Seriously, who doesn’t love a good muffin?
The soft interior, a delicious crusty top, the endless varieties/flavors/mix-ins/etc. They are truly the star on any breakfast, brunch, or snack/teatime table… hence my enduring love for the muffin.
But what I don’t love about muffins is that sometimes they end up being more cupcake than muffin. Don’t get me wrong, I would never turn down a super-sized double chocolate chunk muffin (which can be a whopping 366 calories), but for every day consumption, I like my muffins with a little more substance (and a lot less calories!).
So when I had seriously overripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter, I wanted to whip up some banana nut muffins with a healthier edge. So after doing a little research and some adapting, here is a recipe for banana muffins that is not only delicious, but nutritious too!
It starts with the dry ingredients.
Flour, oat bran (for a little nutty-ness), brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk those ingredients together until smooth – be patient, the brown sugar likes to clump a little bit.
Then pour in the wet ingredients – skim milk, some vegetable oil, an egg, some vanilla, and a healthy splash of whiskey… yes, I do like whiskey in my banana muffins. If you don’t like to use alcohol when you cook/bake, feel free to leave it out!
Gently stir the muffin batter until the dry ingredients just become moistened. Please don’t overmix your muffin batter… if you do, the muffins get tough and get those big air holes (which leaves you with more air and less muffin… not awesome!).
All that’s left is to add in the stars of the show!
I folded in two thoroughly mashed, almost too overripe bananas and a half cup of pecans that I finely chopped. Again, if you don’t like pecans, swap them out for a nut you like (such as walnuts), or if you are like E, leave the nuts out all together!
Portion the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups… I have a passion for super cute muffin cups (pink gingham and pink flowers – yes please!).
I used a ¼ cup ice cream scoop (#16 scoop) to make 14 muffins. You can also make about 40 mini-muffins if you use a tablespoon of batter per mini-muffin cup. The possibilities are endless!!
Bake the muffins for about 18-20 minutes until they are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Yum!
Serve alongside your breakfast/brunch favorites or with a cup of tea or coffee as an afternoon treat!
Enjoy, kiddos!
Your muffin obsessed friend,
C
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup oat bran
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup skim milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-3 teaspoons good-quality whiskey (optional)
- 2 medium-to-large overripe bananas, mashed
- ½ cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, oat bran, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine milk, vegetable oil, egg, vanilla, and whiskey. Whisk to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing gently until the dry ingredients are just moistened.
- Add in the mashed banana and chopped pecans. Fold gently until combined. Portion out ¼ cup measures of batter into each standard muffin cup. If making mini-muffins, use 1 tablespoon of batter per mini-muffin cup. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container for 3 days (they also freeze like a dream!).
- Enjoy!
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