Today’s post is from Patti at Cooks Recipe Collection, where you can find her latest recipes and cooking tips.
She shares some great from-scratch recipes often with a healthy twist.
I’ve always considered banana bread to be comfort food and the smell of it cooking is both amazing and homey.
This Healthy Banana Nut Muffin recipe takes your traditional banana bread and puts a healthy twist on it, with less oil.
These Healthy Banana Nut Muffins are easy to grab for a quick breakfast.
They are delicious as an after-school snack for the kids and perfect for a pre or post-workout snack for you.
This recipe gives you an easy and convenient way to eat and feed your family healthy food.
Recipe Modifications:
- Muffins – By making muffins rather than your typical loaf of Banana bread, portion control is easily attained.
- Muffin Liners – By using paper muffin liners, the need for additional oil is reduced and the muffins are convenient and easy to grab for a quick breakfast or snack.
- Whole Wheat Flour – By using a mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, you are increasing both nutrition (high in vitamin B and minerals) and fibre.
- Less oil – While olive oil is healthy and high in beneficial fatty acids, too much of a good thing is not good for your waistline.
- Bananas – While not a modification, bananas are high in potassium, vitamin B6 as well as other vitamins and minerals.
Also, by using very ripe bananas, the amount of sugar in the recipe can be reduced.
I always prefer using the natural sugars from ingredients in my dishes over added sweeteners. - Walnuts – Walnuts nutritional benefits include copper, folic acid, phosphorus, vitamin B6, manganese, and vitamin E.
And if that’s not enough, they taste great too.
Muffin Storage Tips:
- These muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 3 days or refrigerated for up to a week.
- If you’re not planning to eat them right away, freeze your muffins for up to 3 months and defrost as they are needed.
Notes from my experience using Patti's recipe
I often shy away from baked banana or carrot recipes for one reason: the post-bake oily residue, but I loved how Patti’s recipe used just a smidgeon.
And, her muffins looked delicious!
So, I had a spare hour before picking the dogs up from daycare and decided to give Patti’s recipe a test run!
Here’s what I learned and would love to share with you.
Using frozen bananas
You may discover your creamy-yellow bananas have turned a deep brown while in the freezer. Still, use them!
They may not look gorgeous but they sure are delicious and won’t affect the end taste at all.
I had a time constraint and needed to mash mine in a hurry so used my potato masher instead of a fork.
The result was surprisingly quick and easy with creamy-smooth bananas in no time.
Sorry I can’t show you as brown mashed bananas are not photogenic.
Walnuts
What I loved about this recipe was the perfect mix of walnuts – just enough in every bite.
That’s my kind of muffin!
Cupcake liners
I only had Culinary Parchment Lotus Cup liners which make bigger muffins.
So, instead of making 12, my recipe made 8.
TIP: Make sure to only fill your liners to 3/4 because these muffins are excellent at rising!
Brown sugar
Once I found the brown sugar in my pantry, I discovered a bag of solid lumps.
If you are facing this right now, here’s what you do – toss a few smaller lumps into the blender and hey presto!
I was back in business with brown sugar for the tops of my muffins.
The toothpick test
My banana walnut muffins were baked in exactly 20 minutes, so keep an eye on the time when you bake yours. Even better, set the alarm!
Next, I followed Patti’s quick toothpick test.
Insert a toothpick into the centre and if it comes out clean, your muffins are baked to perfection.
How to pack freshly baked, hot muffins for travelling
In less than one hour, I had baked and packed fresh, hot muffins, ready to run out of the house!
My bamboo steamer was the perfect travel solution.
Vented top and bottom, these muffins cooled along the way and did not turn soggy.
Wait a minute . . .
Did I not say the recipe made ‘8’?
And the next day . . .
Nothing beats sitting out on the patio first thing in the morning with a fresh brew of coffee and a missing banana walnut muffin made from scratch.
Each bite was delicious!
My verdict
Not too sweet, not at all oily, and just chewy enough that there were no crumbs!
Thanks, Patti from Cooks Recipe Collection for sharing a fabulous recipe!
Some of the equipment you need to make muffins
And, if you ever need to ‘make, pack, and go’ with muffins straight from the oven, then I highly recommend using a bamboo steamer!
I’ve had my Helen Chen steamer for almost 10 years and love it.
Healthy Banana Nut Muffins
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Fork for mashing fresh banana or a potato masher for frozen banana
- Long wooden spoon for mixing
- Scraper
- Muffin pan tray
- Tablespoon for spooning mixture into paper cups
- Paper cups for your muffins
- Oven mitts
- Cooling tray
Ingredients
- 3 bananas
As ripe as possible, and either fresh or frozen. - 1 egg At room temperature
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Extra virgin - 1/3 c milk 2%
- 1/2 c sugar raw or refined
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 c whole wheat flour
- 3/4 c all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 c walnuts raw, chopped
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- · Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- · Line cupcake pans with 12 cupcake liners and set aside. If you prefer to not use cupcake liners, grease the cupcake pans well with butter or cooking spray.
- · Place peeled bananas on a plate or cutting board and mash with a fork, then place the mashed bananas in a medium mixing bowl.
- · Add egg, olive oil, milk, and sugar to the bananas and mix well.
- · Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder, flours and 1 cup of the walnuts (reserve 1/4 cup for topping).
Mix until ingredients are just combined, being careful not to over mix at this stage. - · Pour the batter evenly into cupcake pans to make 12 muffins.
- · Sprinkle the reserved 1/4 cup of walnuts and 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar over the top of the muffins.
- · Bake muffins until golden brown, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. This will take about 20 minutes.
- · Cool muffins on a wire rack for about 5 minutes before removing them from the pan.
- Cool completely before storing.
Notes
- The use of cupcake liners reduces the need for additional oil and makes the muffins convenient to grab when short on time.
- Using very ripe bananas in this recipe reduces the need for added sugar in this recipe.
- These muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 3 days or refrigerated for up to a week. If you’re not planning to eat them that soon, they can also be frozen for up to 3 months, and defrosted as they are needed.
- This recipe uses much less oil than a typical banana bread recipe.
Comments
These sound delicious! Can’t wait to make them!
Thanks, Anna.
I’ve tried a ‘few’ banana muffin recipes before and these are exceptional. The ladies at doggie daycare were thrilled with their surprise too!
Banana muffins are a favorite treat in my house – can’t wait to try these! (might have to add some mini chocolate chips 🙂
Looking forward to trying this recipe out. They look delicious!
Smita, these are delicious and are great travellers because they aren’t the crumbly kind. I hope you enjoy them!
Yum! There’s something about banana and chocolate being together in a recipe that makes my heart sing as well! Cori, I tried them again with chopped dark chocolate chips and they were decadent.