An excess of overripe apple bananas and a craving for some muffins led me to seek out some healthy options. I found this recipe for Banana Blueberry Muffins on the Mighty Foods blog, always a good source for healthy, natural foods recipes. The allure of the tangy blueberries, full of antioxidants, combined with the sweet bananas, crunchy walnuts, whole grain flour and yogurt sounded perfect.
Banana Blueberry Muffins
Mighty Foods (posted by Mighty Staff)
(Makes a dozen muffins)
2 cups white whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup natural cane sugar
2 large organic eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 cup fresh blueberries, toss in a bit of flour to keep them from sinking while baking
Heat oven to 375 and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and 3/4 cup of the walnuts in a bowl and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl using a mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla, yogurt and mashed bananas, then gently mix in dry ingredients; over mixing will result in tough muffins. Fold in the blueberries.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin (an ice-cream scoop works well here), top with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts, bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Fill cups two-thirds full for regular muffins or to brim for a big-topped version. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar here for a nice bit of sweet-crusted goodness. Cool for a couple minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes/Results: Absolutely delicious. These are a terrific, moist, dense--but not too heavy and very tasty muffin. The kind of muffin that makes you look forward to breakfast, especially when paired with a nice cup of tea. I used what I had on hand to make these; whole grain pastry flour, non-fat Greek yogurt and a mix of toasted walnuts and pecans (I didn't have quite enough walnuts). I also mixed in 2 Tbsp of ground flax meal for those extra omega-3s and topped the muffins with the toasted nuts and just a bit of a spiced raw sugar mix my neighbor gave me for Christmas to add a little sweet crunch. I will definitely be making these again.
2 cups white whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup natural cane sugar
2 large organic eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 cup fresh blueberries, toss in a bit of flour to keep them from sinking while baking
Heat oven to 375 and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and 3/4 cup of the walnuts in a bowl and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl using a mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla, yogurt and mashed bananas, then gently mix in dry ingredients; over mixing will result in tough muffins. Fold in the blueberries.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin (an ice-cream scoop works well here), top with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts, bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Fill cups two-thirds full for regular muffins or to brim for a big-topped version. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar here for a nice bit of sweet-crusted goodness. Cool for a couple minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes/Results: Absolutely delicious. These are a terrific, moist, dense--but not too heavy and very tasty muffin. The kind of muffin that makes you look forward to breakfast, especially when paired with a nice cup of tea. I used what I had on hand to make these; whole grain pastry flour, non-fat Greek yogurt and a mix of toasted walnuts and pecans (I didn't have quite enough walnuts). I also mixed in 2 Tbsp of ground flax meal for those extra omega-3s and topped the muffins with the toasted nuts and just a bit of a spiced raw sugar mix my neighbor gave me for Christmas to add a little sweet crunch. I will definitely be making these again.
These look great! Thanks for pointing me to that blog, now I have about fifty thousand more recipes that I want to make.
ReplyDeleteThey do look great, you baker, you!
ReplyDeleteLove the flavour combination, now I have to go check out this Mighty Foods....
I just baked muffins, because we love them. I'll have to make these very soon. They look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteA little tip: I like to gently mix my blueberries in some of the flour. That way they don't float to the bottom of the muffin and I get less "bleeding".
These look delicious, I love that they're healthy too! I love white whole wheat flour, I use it in my baking all the time.
ReplyDeleteJoanne and Natashya--thanks! Mighty Foods is a great resource for recipes I started revisiting again lately--hope you like it.
ReplyDeleteFeast for the Eyes--Thanks for the tip. I actually did gently toss them in flour but maybe because it was the whole grain pastry flour they still bled a bit. I did have bunches on them at the top too. Oh well! ;-)
Sara--thanks! I love the healthy/but good factor too!
wow, this was immediate gratification. I read your post this morning, remembered I had old bananas in the freezer, and made them on the spot! I used frozen raspberries that I defrosted because it was all I had on had. So delicious! Very dense and satisfying. thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe nuts on top look very tasty and the blueberries are a surprise when you split the muffin. Oh do they ever look good!
ReplyDeleteThose look like a dessert I would like to have sometime. Very good photography!
ReplyDeleteOh, these look perfect! I love muffins, but would rather not blow out the fat and calorie allowances on them. These look like a great way to have it all. And I always seem to have overripe bananas! Love to see you baking! :-)
ReplyDeletehow I miss apple bananas! these muffins look wonderful and healthy.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Those look delicious. I like the yoghurt in the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this, I am always looking for healthy muffin recipes!
ReplyDelete