Banana redemption is mine.
I really was ashamed of my last attempt at banana muffins. The flavor was off, the texture was nasty, and even the crumb topping wasn’t enough to save them. But these got me back in the healthy baking saddle, reminding me that I still can find ways to make breakfast worth looking forward to. Phew!
I still don’t know why the first ones were so terrible. They created a brief but intense crisis of confidence for me, as I wondered if I’d lost my touch. I even tried to blame the bananas, since I used a combination of freezer bananas and fresh, if you can call revolting overripe gross-to-the-touch bananas fresh. But I did the same thing with these — a pretty risky test after the previous failure — and yet they turned out great.
Look at them.
Kitchen confidence restored. Delicious banana oat muffins, at my service. And now at yours.
They did stick to the paper a little bit, but it didn’t matter, because they tasted so good, they were worth a little extra paper-peeling. The bananas came through with flavor and sweetness, but never gave them that moist (sorry) thickness that can be the ruin of a good muffin. And I had a chance to use some more exotic chips from the Scratchy collection, as I call it: this time they were Yemen Chocolate Chips, with ginger, cinnamon, and spices. Fancy stuff! (I’m sure regular chocolate chips would be just lovely, too.)
WHOLE WHEAT BANANA OAT MUFFINS with YEMEN CHOCOLATE CHIPS
(adapted from Treats and Eats)
yield: 12 muffins and one mini loaf, or 14-15 muffins
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat white flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar (or any light brown sugar)
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup safflower oil
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup 1% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1/3 – 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Yemen Chocolate Chips with ginger, cinnamon, and spices)
cinnamon-sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
directions:
Heat oven to 425, you will reduce the temperature later. Spray or line a muffin tin with paper cups, and a mini loaf pan as well.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, wheat germ, oats, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Whisk until thoroughly mixed.
In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, honey, oil, eggs, bananas, yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Once thoroughly combined, fold in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the chips.
Scoop the batter into muffin tins as evenly as possible.
Bake at 425 for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake muffins for another 10 minutes. If you’re also baking a mini loaf, it will need an additional 5-7 minutes.
Let sit in the pan for five minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
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