Healthy Banana Muffins

I love banana bread and banana muffins! There’s really not a whole lot that is better in the morning than grabbing a delicious and tasty muffin and a warm cup of coffee. The mix of sweetened caffeine and comfort food is almost enough to make a person want to leap up and rejoice in song!

The part that ends up refraining me from bursting into a glorious hymn of praise is that muffins by design are loaded with sugar. I suppose that’s why they call it comfort food, but still – can’t we just start the day with comfort food that fuels us for the rest of the day?

Actually, you can! Or at least you can with this recipe!

We’ve been trying to find good, healthy and quick breakfast options for the kiddos. And if I’m being completely honest, I could use some healthy and quick breakfast options myself. I love a good dose of carbs in the morning, but my blood sugar levels feel a bit different.

We bought bananas this week and I completely forgot to make sure I bought a slightly green bunch. The weather has been getting warmer and bananas seem to ripen so quickly when it’s warm inside. Well, as one might have guessed, barely a week later I found myself with a fruit bowl full of very ripe bananas.

They’ll be good for smoothies, but there’s no way I’ll be able to use as many bananas as I have in smoothies before they completely spoil – that is unless I eat smoothies for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next few days and that’s not a diet I’m excited to try.

So, muffin experimentation time was a must!

Since I wanted to make a healthy version of banana muffins, I decided to use date paste instead of sugar. Since date paste is a semi-liquid form (thick, but still a liquid), I was also able to cut the amount of butter needed in half. Huge win on both ends!

Begin by making your date paste. You can make date paste very easily by placing 1 cup date pieces in a bowl, pouring in 1/2 cup water and either microwaving it for melting the butter and pouring it into a mixing one minute or heating it over the stove for 5 minutes. After the mixture has heated, allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes and then mash into a paste.

Melt the butter and place it in a mixing bowl. Add your date paste and mix with a beater until the mixture is creamy. It will take on the same look as when you cream butter and sugar together. After all, dates are just a natural form of sugar.

Add the eggs, vanilla and lemon juice. Mix until the batter is creamy then add the bananas.

Rather than taking time to completely mash the bananas by hand and then adding it to your batter, I drop chunks of banana directly into the batter and then use the beater to mash them.

Yes, this usually leaves some chunks of banana, but those chunks end up tasting wonderful as you devour your muffin or bread.

Make sure to beat the mixture until most of the banana chunks are mashed and your batter is again creamy. Now add in your baking soda, salt and baking powder. Beat for about 30 seconds until it’s all mixed in.

Now you can begin adding in your flour, half a cup at a time. Begin by adding 1/2 cup flour and using the beater to mix it in well. Once it is fully mixed into the batter, add another 1/2 cup flour and again use the beater to fully mix it into the batter. Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour and mix until all the flour is fully mixed into the batter and the batter is creamy and thick.

Now you’re ready to prepare your pans and bake your tasty morsels. But first, turn begin heating the oven up to 350 degrees f.

Before placing your batter in your baking pans, you’ll need to coat them with some oil. You can either use a healthy cooking spray, such as pure canola oil, or you can use a paper towel to coat each muffin mold with olive oil. Either works great. When I’m in a hurry I use a spray. When I have a little more time – or patience – I use a paper towel and olive oil.

Tip: If you decide to use a cooking spray, use a paper towel to wipe off the excess around the muffin mold openings. This will help prevent baked on oil on your pans that is grueling to remove!

You can use either a spoon or a scoop to fill each muffin mold 3/4 the way with batter. If you’d like muffins that have a projecting top, like the ones you find at the store that look like a mushroom, fill the muffin mold almost full. As it rises, the batter will spill out over the edges of the muffin mold and create a mushroom looking top.

I’ve also used brownie and donut pans to make different shaped muffins. The kiddos love the donut shaped muffins because it makes if feel like they’re eating a donut. Little Trick: don’t underestimate the power of making foods look different than they really are!

If you’re using either a brownie or donut pan, fill the molds to the half way point. Donut and brownie shapes don’t fair very well with a mushroom looking top – taken from someone who’s accidentally tried it!

Once your muffins pan molds are filled, put them in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Power Pack Your Muffins!

If you want to pack your muffins with the power of protein and greens, simply replace 1/2 cup of the all purpose flour with garbanzo bean flour and add 2 heaping scoops of protein powder and 2 scoops of super green powder to your batter. Mix well and bake as directed.

These muffins are the perfect breakfast on the run food and are packed with power to keep you going all morning long! These are also great for filling up your kiddos bellies with wholesome goodness disguised as a treat!

From one mother to another Your Welcome!

Recipes

Let me know if you try these recipes and what you think!