If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, let's keep it from being boring. If your interest was piqued by the muffin pictured in the breakfast post earlier this week, you're in luck! This time around, we're talking about those very Maple Banana Walnut Muffins.
Now you can absolutely opt to make these when you see that bunch of bananas on the counter marching quickly toward overripe. However, if you are like me, you'll snag those nanners and pop them in the freezer before they go bad. You can peel them or, if you don't mind an extra step that will give you even more nutrition and banana flavor, you'll cut the ends off and pop them into a freezer bag with the rest of the peel on them. Then, when you want to bake, run the frozen nannas - peel and all - through a blender or food processor until smooth and continue on with your recipe. It works! And, of course, it also works with peeled bananas. Just a fun trick I thought I'd share.
These muffins are sweetened with the fruit and maple syrup and are not your typical bakery muffin that's loaded with sugar and preservatives. If you are used to those, you might find these a bit different with less sweetness up front and a lot more flavor - think banana, walnut, maple, and cinnamon - throughout. If this sounds like your thing, add them to your morning routine or with a cup of coffee or tea in the afternoon as a midday slump snack. Enjoy!
Maple Banana Walnut Muffins
- 1 ¼ cup mashed bananas (3-4 very ripe bananas, depending on size)
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup walnuts
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease the cups with coconut oil; set aside.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; stir until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.
Using an ice cream scoop that yields 3 tablespoon measures (#20 scoop), scoop the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin. If you do not have a scoop, use a spoon and be careful to keep the tins evenly filled with about 3 tablespoons of batter per tin.
Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes. Test them with a toothpick to make sure they are fully baked and allow them to rest in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing them to cool completely. You can freeze these or keep them covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Yields: 20 muffins
- Preparation Time: 40 minutes plus cooling time