High Protein Muffins with Berries and Hidden Veggies

These High Protein Muffins with Berries and Hidden Veggies have it all: Fruits, hidden veggies, protein, lots of fibre, crunch and so much flavour, you will be happy to have them any time of the day. These little beauties are fantastic for breakfast, but equally good to impress your guests with a beautiful platter of them.

 

This post may contain referral links for products I love. For The Pleasure Of Eating earns a small commission on these links at no cost to you, and the links will always be marked with an asterisk* or highlighted in pink.

• Why You Will Love This
• The Ingredients
• How to Make This
• Meal Prep

Why You Will Love This 

TL;DR

• Protein-Packed & Satisfying – Around 10g of protein per muffin (double the usual!) thanks to protein powder and eggs.
• Lower in Calories – Smart swaps (like using less maple syrup and coconut oil) bring them down to ~240 calories each.
• No Weird Sweetener Taste – A natural mix of sweetness from berries, carrots, and just enough maple syrup—no artificial aftertaste here.
• Hidden Veggies (That Actually Work) – Grated carrot for moisture, spinach for extra nutrition (without the taste).
• Great Any Time of Day – Perfect for breakfast, snack, or even part of a brunch spread—they look just as good as they taste.
• Lots of Texture & Flavour – Sweet berries, tender crumb, a bit of crunch, and plenty of fibre make these feel like a treat with benefits.

Healthy, protein-rich, and full of feel-good ingredients—these muffins manage to sneak in the good stuff without sacrificing flavour.

The Inspiration

After having made the stunning Everything Bread from “Simply Beautiful Eating”, I knew I wanted to make it again, but add my own twist to it.

Added Protein

My first goal was to up the protein content, as I’m trying to get as much as possible with every meal, without having to resort to drinking shakes all the time. Of course, I added Protein powder (which I promptly forgot in the ingredients picture. Ahem) and eggs, which also replaced part of the coconut oil, to lower the calorie content a bit.

Why Do I Add Protein?

You mean apart from the well known physical benefits of protein for the body like helping you to build muscle, keeping your bones strong and increasing satiation, meaning you stay fuller for longer and with that can maintain your weight easier?

Lesser known is, that it also effects the brain by helping it to effectively transport information through neuropathways using the amino acods found in Protein.
This even has been shown to help protect from age related dementia.

If you’d like to read more about how and why I use protein, I wrote a blog post about it.

And another one about my weight loss journey, shedding 70lb within 1 year. Protein played a big part in that too!

With all those benefits, it’s no surprise that the recipes containing both sourdough and protein were popular enough for me to shift my focus.

Lower Calories with One Simple Swap? Achieved.

The sweetness of the protein powder meant, I could reduce part of the maple syrup, without any impact on flavour, as all the berries and carrots add enough natural sweetness, so this won’t have any sweetener taste to it. I don’t know about you, but I feel I can sniff out sweetener in things from a mile, as I hate the aftertaste it usually gives. So, after a few experiments, I found a mix of sweet sources performs best, when it comes to the balance of flavour and the intention to cut down calories. If there is at least half of the sweetness natural, you won’t notice any artificial taste.

It also down the calories from about 300 per piece to about 240 per muffin (both assuming 12 portions) and doubles the protein from 5g to about 10g per portion, which meant I reached my goal for adapting.

2 Hidden Veggies

We all love berries and maybe dried fruit in our sweets, right? But veggies, let alone greens, probably not so much.
This has both. Grated carrots, which add to the lovely moist texture and spinach. Yep, you read that right, spinach. You won’t even notice it though, it just blends in seamlessly. Apart from providing a few charming green flecks.

Ingredient Notes

• Different types of flour – spelt and fine wholewheat flour for nuttiness and nutrition. Use all wholewheat if you don’t have spelt.

Note:

Cups, due to the possibility of compacting the flour while dragging the container through it, can give you wildly different results. Use a tablespoon to gently fill the cup with flour, then drag the back of a knife over it to level. This should give you the closest to the standard 120g per cup of flour.

Alternatively, if you have kitchen scales, assume 120g flour per cup and weigh it out.

In some of my recipes I will give gram measurements for this reason, but I mostly try to accommodate the American cup system.

• Rolled oats – To increase the whole grain content and for binding
• Baking powder – For rise
• Spices –  pure vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. To give the muffins incredible flavor.
• Coconut oil  – For the needed healthy fat content. Otherwise you’d have very dry muffins!
• Eggs – I used 2 here and, in the version of the ingredients picture, whipped the egg whites. But I found this isn’t necessary in another trial
• Maple syrup – To add a little more sweetness
• Protein powder –  I used “MyProtein – Speculoos” as it tastes like cinnamon, going really well with these muffins. Vanilla is great too. It not just adds protein, but also replaces part of the flour and sugar.
• Non-dairy milk –  I used unsweetened almond for moisture
• Mixed fresh berries  – In my case raspberries, blueberries and blackberries
• Baby spinach and grated carrots – For the hidden veggie part
• Apple  – Even more fruity flavor
• Dried fruit – such as raisins, dried cranberries, apricots. You can get wildly creative here
• Pistachios, chopped – Or any chopped nuts or seeds

Equipment Used

Measuring Cups

Buy Now →

Glass bowl

Buy Now →

cookie scoop

Buy Now →

muffin liners

Buy Now →

muffin pan

Buy Now →

box grater

Buy Now →

How to Make this

I realise the ingredients shot looks like there is a lot of work involved, but these High Protein Muffins with Berries and Hidden Veggies couldn’t be any easier to make.

Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease the tin.

Get your Ingredients Ready

Getting out the ingredients and grating the carrots and apple is basically the biggest effort.
I usually shorten that step considerably by using my trusty food processor*. But a box grater* will do the job. (I just can’t be trusted with them. My fingers thank me for the food processor…)
Roughly chop the spinach.

Mix the Protein Powder with the Wet

After that you mix the protein powder with the wet ingredients until no lumps are left. To make it even easier, you can do this in a blender.

Mix the Dry. Add the wet to the dry.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients. Then add the wet to the dry, just carefully folding everything in. Don’t overmix. Fold in all the add-ins and you are done.

Fill Muffin Form

Personally I’m really bad with the muffin tin filling, tending to spill everything everywhere and having really uneven level when just using spoons. So I love using a cookie scoop*, giving me an even amount and non-sticky fingers.

Tip:

As you see in the picture, I whipped the egg whites, to add some lightness, but found it doesn’t make much of a difference here. So, you can skip this step.

Bake

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean (Berry juices on it are fine). Once baked, remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the tin for a few minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meal Prep

I wanted my High Protein snack/breakfast in shape of muffins instead of a loaf, so I could freeze them easily in portions. Plus, I quite like the look of them.
These lovelies keep for about 3-4 days in the fridge (avoid the countertop due to all the juicy berries and veggies) or for up to 3 months in the freezer.

You can quickly heat them up by using your oven or air fryer* for about 10-12 minutes.

Other recipes you might enjoy

How about some healthier snacks?

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?

And if you enjoyed this recipe, please consider rating, sharing, or leaving a comment – your feedback truly helps my blog grow!

Print