Banana Nut Muffins (makes 12)

All my life, I’ve gone on food kicks. For example, all I wanted was pecan spins for a while – definitely NOT real food for anyone keeping score at home – then once the kick passed I don’t think I ever ate one again. By the way, did y’all know that on the Little Debbie website there are recipes that involve adding butter and sugar to pecan spins? Come on, Debs, haven’t you done enough?

Well, recently I fell HARD for homemade muffins. Like, this was a real conversation I had with Adam yesterday:

C (totally exasperated): I just don’t know what kind of muffins I want to make.

A (sorta looks up from computer): That sounds like a life or death situation.

C (“ironic” hysterics building): It kinda IS though.

A (calm stare): No... It isn’t. 

Ok, fine. They’re all amazing. I’ll share the banana nut ones now, and you can expect a flood of muffin recipes from now until the kick is over, which based on history, could be anywhere from two weeks to two years.

Real food? 

Yep! Using whole wheat pastry flour instead of refined white flour packs these with 4 times the amount of fiber, so you’ll stay full longer. (“It sticks to your ribs,” as my grandmother says.) Plus, using a flavorful natural sweetener like maple syrup means you can get away with using less. If a recipe calls for a cup of sugar, let’s be real… that’s not a muffin, that’s a cupcake. Not that I’m opposed to eating cake for breakfast (especially if it’s Mom Orton’s red velvet cake), but we should at least be honest with ourselves.

These are actually vegan too. Until very recently, I had it in my head that all baking was totally dependent on eggs, but it turns out that’s just not true. 

Cook time:

I’m an inexperienced baker (measuring stuff really cramps my style!) so it takes me a little more than a Netflix sitcom to put these together + 15-20 minutes bake time.    

     

Price: $7.25/batch or $0.60/muffin

For a less expensive variation, leave out the chopped pecans and replace the maple syrup with honey: $4.50/batch or $0.38/muffin.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 bananas (mashed)
• ¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• ¾ cup pecans (chopped, about 3 oz)
• Paper cupcake liners (optional)

A few notes about ingredients...

• I can actually tell the difference between regular flour and pastry flour. I recommend using pastry flour so the muffins come out lighter.
• I keep frozen ripe bananas in the freezer for smoothies and stuff, and I’ve thawed some out to use in these muffins when my fresh bananas weren’t ripe enough.
• There are two main types of coconut oil – refined and unrefined. I use refined coconut oil, because I don’t want a strong coconut flavor, but I check to be sure I’m buying one without hydrogenated oil (trans fat).

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 375°.

2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt) together in a large mixing bowl.

3. Mix the wet ingredients in a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl.

Use a food processor to mash the banana. Measure the wet ingredients (bananas, apple sauce, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla) into the bowl, and microwave until the coconut oil agrees to stay liquid (keep trying about 30 seconds at a time).  Whisk all the wet ingredients together.

4. Put everything together.

Stir together the wet and dry ingredients (just until mixed, because gluten or something?) Then fold in the chopped pecans.

5. Scoop mixture into muffin cups (using paper liners if you have them) and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins are brown.

In theory, I could make these Sunday night and Adam and I would have breakfast all week. But that’s dependent on only eating one a day most days. One guess as to how that plan is working out :)

Print recipe

Another quick vegan recipe share:

With the notable exceptions of Tina Fey and Jan Case - whose humor and wisdom I’ve been trying to pass off as my own for years – I try not to wholesale rip-off other people ideas, so I mainly write about recipes I’ve developed or majorly tweaked myself. But, the other day I tried a recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies that’s well worth a share just as it is. 

http://www.dailyrebecca.com/2013/03/the-best-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies/