Bananas!

The goal: buy bananas that are slightly under-ripe (green) so that over the next week you get a good two days of just perfect naners, and then finish them off as they get sweeter and softer, but never over-ripe and mushy.  Last two weeks = fail.  Thus I had 3 very over-ripe bananas in the freezer just waiting to be repurposed into a new delicious treat (treat to come…keep reading).

First things first.  Bananas can be a great part of a healthy, balanced diet.  They are a good source of potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C and vitamin B6.  They contain a good many other nutrients too, in smaller amounts.  They are naturally free of fat, cholesterol and sodium.  Bananas also make a great addition to baked goods.  They impart moisture, of course some sweetness, and can replace some or all of the fat called for in a recipe (awesome!).

So, what did I make?  Well, I was gifted some fresh garden blueberries this week and had a hankering for a “coffee-treat” recently so I used the ingredients I had on hand to make single serve (one per morning coffee J) Whole Wheat Blueberry Banana Muffins.  These were also husband approved, by the way.I started like I do many other baking recipes and found a basic muffin recipe online to which I then made adjustments depending on my available ingredients and “healthy substitutions.”  This one will be a keeper.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup mashed banana (I used all 3 of my over-ripe bananas)
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
(don’t have buttermilk: mix 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice + skim milk to reach 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce (instead of oil)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Putting them together:

·        Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 12 muffin pan with cooking spray. 

·        Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

·        Combine the rest of the ingredients (except blueberries) in a medium bowl.

·        Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until moist.

·        Fold in the blueberries.

·        Fill muffin tins evenly and bake for about 16-18 minutes (until golden brown and a toothpick/cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean).

·        Cool on a wire rack.

Eat and enjoy!  Great warm out of the oven, but will keep in the fridge and are delicious eaten cool with a cup of coffee or zapped in the microwave for a warm treat.

Nutrition (using the handy-dandy MyFitnessPal recipe tool):

Serving Size: 1 muffin
Servings per recipe: 12
Calories: 153
Fat: 1 g (low fat)
Sodium: 159 mg
Potassium: 215 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 33 g
Fiber: 4 g ("good" source of fiber from that whole wheat flour, oats, and banana)
Sugar: 15 g (keep in mind this is both natural and added sugar)
Protein: 4 g