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Healthy Banana & Walnut Muffins

You know when you’ve got a whole bunch of bananas that are about to go off, and need to get rid of them ASAP? That actually never occurs in my house, as we eat them like monkeys but yesterday – it did! I had a bunch of brown bananas that were ready to either be frozen, baked or binned.

I’ve been playing around with a healthy banana bread lately, but really wanted to make muffins to take to work. I hate adding sugar to recipes, and the only sugar these muffins have is maple syrup (though I used sugar-free maple syrup!).

 

These are extremely fluffy, light and delicious. The perfect combination of creamy bananas and crunchy walnuts means you can eat these for breakfast, lunch or dinner! I’ve been having one with a cuppa for afternoon tea, and they go down a real treat.

 

My banana muffins are super easy to make, and don’t take long to create at all. You can definitely experiement with this recipe, and change the walnuts for another nut, dried fruit or chocolate chips for a delicious sweet treat.

 

One thing to remember – these aren’t the sweetest muffins. The more you have however, the sweeter they taste. Feel free to taste as you make, and add more maple syrup/honey/sugar/stevia to your preferences. My mum taught me a wonderful trick – for those with a real sweet tooth, sprinkle a tiny tsp of sugar across the top of the muffins before you bake them. It ends up being only 1 tsp between the 12 muffins, but it really does add a fair amount of sweetness to the fnished product.

 

Happy baking and remember, if you make them please tag me on Instagram @eatwithelle – I love seeing all of your creations x

 

Ingredients

-      2 eggs(room temperature)

-      1/3 cup melted coconut oil

-      ½ cup maple syrup (or your preferred sweetener)  

-      3 mashed bananas

-      ¼ cup of milk

-      1 tsp vanilla paste

-      1 tsp baking powder

-      pinch of salt

-      cup of chopped walnuts

-      1 tsp of cinnamon

-      1/3 cup oats

-      1 ¾ cups of wholemeal or whole wheat flour (or white flour if you don’t have wholemeal)

 

Method

 Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius, and grease your muffin tray (if necessary).

 Grab a bowl and mix all the dry ingredients together besides the walnuts.

 In a separate bowl, mix the coconut oil, eggs and maple syrup together using an electric mixer. Once mixed, add in the mashed banana and milk until a creamy consistency is achieved.

 Remember that it’s okay to still have chunks of banana in the mixture – they taste great in the muffins!

 Add the mixed dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixer, and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts with a wooden spoon until distributed evenly throughout the batter.

 Scoop out the batter into the muffin tins and fill ¾ of the muffin tin. This recipe makes approx. 12 depending on how big your scoops are! Top with a sprinkle of oats and a walnut, and a sprinkle of sugar if you have a real sweet tooth.

 Bake for approx. 15 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Let the muffins cool and then enjoy with a cup of tea.

 ENJOY!