I love a good banana muffin, and I have several recipes to prove it. I often have at least two bananas stored in my freezer, unpeeled and wrapped in plastic for future desserts. But as yummy as my banana muffin recipes are, I’m always searching for ways to make tweaks and adaptations, depending on the contents of my refrigerator.
For these, I decided to use maple syrup instead of sugar to make it a tad healthier. The result is a soft, mildly sweet muffin with bursts of chocolate and nuts in every bite. These would make the perfect snack to bake on Sunday and keep around all week to accompany coffee or tea. Enjoy and happy baking!
Banana Muffins
Makes 12
Adapted from Alida’s Kitchen 1¾ cup white whole-wheat flour or all-purpose flour
¾ cup maple syrup
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
2 large, very ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 cup)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Handful of walnut pieces
½ cup chocolate chips
Turbinado coarse sugar for sprinkling
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners and set aside.
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
• In a separate, large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, mashed banana, maple syrup, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla until well combined.
• Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips and the walnuts.
• Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with the coarse sugar.
• Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
• Let cool on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
This article appears in September 2013.
