Here's How To Bake Spinach Into Your Desserts For A Vibrant Pop Of Color

Remember how your parents wouldn't let you have your dessert until you finished your veggies? We just found the ultimate workaround: Vegetables that are actually in your dessert. Before you gasp in horror, consider that some vegetables lean sweet (hello, sweet potato pie). Others don't bring flavor, but luscious texture, like zucchini in chocolate zucchini muffins. And some veggies work wonders for vivid colors that are actually natural, beets being the most popular example. The best part is that no matter your reason for baking sweets with vegetables, they sneak lots of great nutrients into your cookies and cakes. That's why we've delved into 14 different vegetables you should bake with. One of the most nutritious options that also contributes a dreamy color, yet has no unpleasant flavors, is spinach, and baking with it is easier than you think.

Work with fresh spinach. Blanch it — boil it and then immediately transfer it to an ice bath — to retain its bright color. Drain it extremely well. Spinach really holds onto moisture, and that could throw off the texture of your bake, so you really want to make sure you've dried it. Puree that, and voila: An instant color pop you can add to anything. Note that while you need a lot of spinach because of the way it cooks down, you won't need a lot of the end result puree. It may take 2 cups of spinach to make the puree, but you may only need 1 ounce or so for color.

Spinach is a great coloring tool for bakes around green-forward holidays like Christmas and St. Patrick's Day. It also makes for a nice color boost when you're making something centered around pistachios, but they're not giving you quite a vibrant enough green hue. If you're not sure what you're going to make yet, you can also use spinach to make a natural food coloring you can keep on hand for later. You can juice it and then reduce the juice on the stove, creating liquid coloring, or you can work freeze-dried spinach into a powder coloring with your food processor. Store both in airtight containers; liquid will last a few weeks in the fridge, powder months or even years in the pantry.

Use spinach for a naturally bold shamrock in a St. Patrick's Day hidden clover cake. For the March 17th holiday or for Christmas, you can work with a classic white cake base and turn it beautifully green — use cherries, cranberries, or strawberries for red highlights in December. Spinach is great for doing this with vegan vanilla cupcakes, too, since it's a veggie. Add just a touch to "Persian Love cupcakes" to emphasize their pistachio topping that mingles with saffron, cardamom, and rosewater. Spinach could also embolden the tropical vibe of orange chiffon cake, festive for summer. There's also precedent for upgrading a comforting, sweet-but-neutral bake with spinach's color, from Turkish spinach cake to Chinese spinach chiffon cake.