Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins

I was at the Farmer’s Market the other day pining over all of the beautiful produce, and admiring the increasing variety of other products sold there – lotions, soaps, plants, cheeses, etc. I came up to a stand of baked goods that looked good enough to make your mouth water, and I very nearly bought a mini loaf of banana blueberry bread for three dollars. Then the maven in me reminded me that I had all of the ingredients at home to make it myself, and in fact, I had blueberries I needed to use up before they went bad. So, I passed up the Farmer’s Market baked goodies and began looking online for recipes.

As long as I was going to make the banana blueberry bread myself, I figured I’d customize it. Wes really likes things like zucchini bread and banana muffins, so I had him in mind as I set out to the kitchen. First, I thought I’d make this as muffins instead of bread so I could freeze some and dole them out from time to time while keeping them fresh in the meantime. You could, of course, go the bread route if you were going to eat it all within a couple of days. I used whole wheat flour so they’d be a little healthier, and there’s no sugar in them at all – just a scant half cup of honey! There’s so much sweetness from the bananas, you don’t need much else. I also used coconut oil as opposed to vegetable oil or butter since it’s touted for many health benefits, which are too numerous to list here. (Though if you want some more information on that, this article on 28 Science-Backed Health Benefits of Coconut Oil by Well Being Secrets is a pretty interesting read.)

The muffins are still warm out of the oven as I type this. They smell amazing and taste even better! I feel really good knowing exactly what’s in them. And they were very easy to make – I didn’t even use the mixer. These are a perfect breakfast treat, snack, or healthy sweet!

Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed, very ripe banana (2-3 bananas)
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk oil and honey together. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla. Stir in the flour and salt.

Add the baking soda to the hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter.

Toss the blueberries with one Tablespoon of all purpose flour. Stir the blueberries and nuts into the batter.

Fill lined muffin cups 2/3 full and bake 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!