The Muffin Woman

The last couple of weeks, I have been on a quest to find a yummy healthy muffin recipe. I tried a blueberry muffin recipe last week and I did not like muffins at all, they were dry and dense, almost like a scone but not very good. That was a bummer since I used fresh yummy blueberries. So my quest continued for a new recipe.

Last night, I tried a banana muffin recipe and I am quite happy with the muffins, they are very tasty and better yet, I am able to use bananas that are overly ripe and will end up getting thrown out, so I am not wasting any food.



Whiz-Bang Banana Muffins
From: http://www.bellybytes.com/recipe/muffins/muffin01.html

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup quick-cooking oatmeal
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
Nonstick cooking spray or shortening
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 large ripe banana, cut up (I used 2 medium ones)
I also added ¼ cup of chopped pecans since I happened to have them

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl stir together the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. Lightly coat muffin pan with cooking spray or grease with shortening.

In a blender container combine milk, egg, and oil. Cover and blend smooth. With blender running, add banana and blend into mixture. Pour into dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fill muffin pans 2/3 full.

Bake in the 400 degree oven about 20 minutes (I baked for 15 minutes) or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 10 to 12

(Nutritional facts per serving from the website: Calories: 132 , Total fat: 4g , Saturated fat: 1g , Cholesterol: 22mg , Sodium: 162mg , Carbohydrate: 22g , Fiber: 1g)

I think they turned out very yummy! I think next time I try ½ all-purpose flour and ½ wheat flour, applesauce instead of oil, and maybe a little vanilla extract to make it even better for you. I will also bake at 375 degrees instead. I think 400 was too high and so luckily I checked after 15 minutes rather than letting it go to 20 minutes as the instructions suggested.