Whole wheat banana flax muffins are a wholesome afterschool snack.
When I was growing up, late spring was almost magical. Those afternoons that felt like summer days made us anxious to get swimming and with the longer days we’d play outside until we were called in for bed.
This was the season for catching pollywogs, which we’d bring home by the bucketful. And we’d play for hours on my cousins’ huge play structure that we called Jungle Jim. It was actually a jungle gym, but we were very young and the idea of a play structure having a proper name made such sense.
Late spring was also the season of painting rocks. I remember using nail polish to paint portraits on kiwi-sized stones, gluing yarn around the edges and turning them into quite unwearable necklaces for mom.
With so much playtime outside, grab-and-go snacks like cookies and muffins are great to have on hand. These banana muffins have always been popular with my kids and their friends.
The recipe is adapted from an old book called Great Good Food by Julee Rosso. I have other banana muffin recipes tucked in the book but long ago I wrote in the margin “This is the best!” Sometimes I add half a cup of chocolate chips to the recipe, as a treat.
This recipe has great texture – not too wet. And the muffins aren’t overly sweet (especially since I reduced the sugar from the original recipe).
Tips for Whole Wheat Banana Flax Muffins:
- If you don’t have applesauce, no worries. Substitute an extra egg plus enough oil to make half a cup. (I beat the extra egg in a half-cup measuring cup then top it up with the oil.)
- You can further reduce the sugar, to 2/3 cup r even 1/2 cup. It all depends how sweet you like your muffins.
- Love whole wheat flour? Make this recipe with 100% whole wheat (omit the all purpose).
Whole Wheat Banana Flax Muffins
Course: Breads, MuffinsDifficulty: EasyServings
12
servingsPrep time
15
minutesCooking time
25
minutesTotal time
39
minutesThis recipe has great texture – not too wet. And the muffins aren’t overly sweet (especially since I reduced the sugar from the original recipe).
Ingredients
3 ripe bananas, mashed
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup oil
½ cup applesauce
2 cups flour (half whole wheat or spelt, half all-purpose)
2 Tbsp. wheat germ or ground flax
2 tsp. baking soda
3 Tbsp. buttermilk, sour milk or a mixture of milk and plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. vanilla (This isn’t a typo!)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- In a large bowl whisk the bananas with the sugar, egg, oil and applesauce.
- In another bowl whisk the flour, baking soda and flax or wheat germ.
- Add flour mixture to the banana mixture and mix gently until almost combined.
- Add the buttermilk and vanilla and stir gently, just until combined.
- Grease muffin tins or line them with papers. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups.
- Put muffins in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 350 F.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
