Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread Muffins
Soft, moist banana muffins made the healthy way — naturally sweetened with ripe bananas, applesauce, and a touch of agave, with no refined sugar or oil in sight. A wholesome treat you can feel good about grabbing for breakfast or a snack.
Equipment
- Paper Muffin Liners (Optional)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ C Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 C Rolled Oats
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 large Bananas
- ¾ C Greek Yogurt non-dairy works here too
- 1 large Egg or sub flax egg
- ½ C Unsweetened Applesauce
- ¼ C Agave or maple syrup, honey or date syrup
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Non Stick Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Peel the bananas into a medium mixing bowl. Using a regular ol' table fork, mash them until pulpy.2 large Bananas
- Add remaining liquid ingredients to the bowl - applesauce, egg, yogurt, vanilla and agave. Stir vigorously with the fork until your batter is mostly uniform with a few chunks of banana.¾ C Greek Yogurt, 1 large Egg, ½ C Unsweetened Applesauce, ¼ C Agave, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Add your dry ingredients to the batter. Stir everything together until mixed well and there are no pockets of dry ingredients left.1 ¼ C Whole Wheat Flour, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, Non Stick Cooking Spray
- Finally, stir in your add-ons. I added just the oats at this step, but if you're using nuts, seeds, granola or berries, this is a great place to fold them in.1 C Rolled Oats
- Line a muffin tin with paper liners (optional, but it makes clean up easier) and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Portion batter evenly between the muffin cups.
- OPTIONAL: Once the batter is evenly distributed, you can either bake the whole wheat muffins straightaway or opt to top them with a little more good stuff. I sprinkled half with rolled oats and the other half with walnut pieces.
- Bake at 375F for 20-23 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. TIP: Check several muffins from different spots on your pan to ensure that they baked evenly. If some are still gooey, simply remove the "done" ones to a rack to cool and return the pan to the oven for another minute or so.
- Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then remove the muffins to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage & Reheating
- Room Temperature - Store cooled banana bread muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. Make sure they're completely cool before sealing them up, since trapped heat creates condensation and can make the tops turn soggy. If you live somewhere warm or humid, you can line the container with a paper towel to help absorb excess moisture.
- Refrigeration - While not necessary, you can refrigerate these muffins in an airtight container for up to a week if you need to extend their shelf life. Keep in mind that refrigeration tends to dry out baked goods faster than room temperature storage, so freezing is preferred.
- Freezing - These muffins freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely, then wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap before placing them in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container. Individually wrapping them prevents freezer burn and makes it easy to grab just one at a time.
- Reheating - For a fresh-from-the-oven taste, microwave a room-temperature muffin for 15-20 seconds, or a frozen muffin for 30-45 seconds (no need to thaw first). If you prefer, you can also warm them in a 300°F oven for about 10 minutes. This works especially well for frozen muffins and helps restore a slightly crisp top.
- Use ripe, spotty bananas. The riper the banana, the sweeter and more flavorful your muffins will be. Look for bananas with plenty of brown spots (or even mostly black peels). They'll mash easier and pack way more natural sweetness into every bite than a yellow, firm banana ever could.
- Don't overmix the batter. Once you add the dry ingredients, stir just until everything is combined. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which can leave you with dense, tough, or rubbery muffins instead of a light, tender crumb.
- Measure your flour correctly. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife, rather than scooping directly from the bag. Scooping compacts the flour and can add way more than you intend, leading to dry, dense muffins.
- Room temperature ingredients blend better. When a muffin recipe calls for eggs, yogurt, or milk, let them sit out for about 20-30 minutes before mixing. Cold ingredients can cause the batter to seize up or mix unevenly, especially when combined with melted butter or oil.
- Fill each muffin top generously. Fill your muffin liners about ¾ of the way full. This gives the batter enough room to rise without overflowing.
- Don't skip the toothpick test. Ovens vary, so start checking for doneness a couple of minutes before the recipe's minimum bake time. Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin. A few moist crumbs clinging to it means they're done; wet batter means they need more time.
- Let them rest in the pan first. Give your muffins about 5 minutes in the tin before transferring them to a wire rack. This lets them firm up just enough so they don't fall apart, without steaming and going soggy on the bottom.
- Storage matters. Make sure muffins are completely cool before storing. Trapping warmth in a container creates condensation, which leads to soggy tops and a shorter shelf life.
- Nuts & Seeds - Add some extra protein, fat and fiber using nuts or seeds! I love adding walnuts, pecans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, flax seeds or chia seeds to my muffin batter. You can also add a dollop of nut or seed butter on top of the muffins before baking to create a little pocket of yumminess!
- Oats - I usually toss a few extra oats on top of the muffins before baking just because it looks cute, but don't feel like you have to stop there. If you're looking for a healthier alternative to streusel or crumble toppings, turning to oat based granolas is an easy swap to make!
- Coconut - If chewy texture is what you're after, some unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut could be a great solution. Coconut and banana also taste really great together, so it's a match made in heaven.
- Cacao - Whether you opt to add crunchy nibs for some crunch or prefer to use ground cacao to give the muffins a chocolate-y makeover is entirely up to you.
- Berries - Berries are an awesome addition to muffins! Try folding in some fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries prior to baking.
Nutrition
Calories: 122kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 5gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.3gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 332mgPotassium: 183mgFiber: 3gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 42IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 1mg
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