Recipe: Banana Bran Muffins
My meals are still focusing on using primarily what I have on hand. I made chicken fajitas on Wednesday. Last night, I made Use Up Some Produce Stir Fry. I threw in stuff that I had on hand. It consisted of broccoli, a diced carrot, the tops of the bell pepper from the fajitas, scallions, toasted cashews, water chestnuts and tofu. I used sesame oil and chili garlic sauce to cook the tofu. I used rice wine vinegar, duck sauce and soy sauce for the veges. Stir fry is one of those easy fast meals that’s great for using up bits of fresh produce. The longest part of stir fry is the prep, and if you have the ability to do it in the afternoon or night before, then dinner is really fast. I don’t like using frozen veges for stir fry either. They are too watery and limp.
I love bran muffins. A lot. Back when Ada was first starting solids, bananas were one things she loved to eat, so one day I made banana bran muffins with the leftover ripe ones. They were really good, and she liked them too. Then Jay came along, and between the two of them, bananas were eaten so fast that I rarely had over ripe ones to work with. Lately, they haven’t been into the bananas much, so a few of them get to the point of needing to be made into something or tossed or frozen. I decided I really wanted to make the bran muffins again, but I wanted to find one that used wheat bran, which I always have for making bread, instead of bran cereal, which I rarely have unless I’m on a kick for eating it for breakfast. I found one, made some, and they were really good. Of course, I love bran muffins. The kids devoured them. Mac devoured them. They didn’t last long. Here is the recipe, based on one from Eating Well:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup agave nectar
2-4 medium ripe bananas, mashed really well
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup unprocessed wheat bran (do not use cereal!)
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole-wheat flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup flax seed meal (optional)
2 Tbsp. Hi-Maize fiber (optional)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
Whisk eggs and agave in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in bananas, buttermilk, wheat bran, oil and vanilla.
Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, flax seed meal, Hi-Maize, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they’ll be quite full).
Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
Notes: The recipe says it makes 12. I do not use muffin tins. I use cupcake tins, so this made 12 cupcakes size muffins and 12 mini muffins and probably a couple more mini muffins if I had another tin. I could probably get about 16-18 cupcake sized muffins, and I fill them to the top.
The flax seed meal and Hi-Maize fiber are my own adding, as is the agave. If you don’t have agave, use 2/3 cup of packed light brown sugar. You can also add chocolate chips or nuts, but I don’t. If you don’t have buttermilk, use regular milk with some lemon.
And you can mix this gently in a stand mixer instead of by hand. I beat the first ingredients first, and then add the dry to it in three parts, mixing on slow until each part is incorporated.
