When he was small, my youngest son had a habit of filling his pockets with treasures he encountered in his daily adventures. I didn't always understand the value he saw in his chosen objects -- really, how many rocks and sticks could one boy keep? In his eyes, though, each one was beautiful and important. Life is just like that on a larger scale, isn't it? We gather up the precious bits of our experiences and save them all to learn from and enjoy later. Perhaps you'll find a little something here that you'd like to keep in your own pockets. Thanks for visiting.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Banana blueberry muffins

In the early days of knowing we had food sensitivities to deal with in our family, I tiptoed very cautiously in the land of gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free baking.  I followed any promising sounding recipes I found to the letter, and slowly built up a collection of trusted ones that always resulted in delicious, healthy foods.  As time passed, I started to feel more comfortable with the new ingredients and experimenting with them in my kitchen.  It has been really rewarding in the last while to be able to develop some of my own versions of recipes and to see the smiles on my family's faces when they enjoy the end results.

These banana blueberry muffins came to be when I played around with the pumpkin spice muffin recipe given to us by Will's teacher (which I posted back in January).  While we still really love the pumpkin version, I think these banana blueberry ones are Will's and my new favourite!  These muffins can be made with whole wheat flour and milk if you prefer, or you can make the gluten-free, dairy-free ones pictured here using the suggested substitutions.


Banana Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (substitute brown rice flour for gluten-free muffins)

1/2 cup oat bran (substitute pure oats finely ground in a food processor for gluten-free muffins)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (approximately 2 large bananas)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup milk (dairy, almond, or rice)
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 tbsp applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grated orange zest

In a large bowl, mix flour, oat bran, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and sea salt until well combined.
Whisk together mashed banana, milk, honey, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and orange zest in a medium bowl until well combined. 
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until mixed.  Fold in frozen blueberries.
Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin cups and bake at 375 F for 20 to 30 minutes. (Check the muffins after 20 minutes -- cooking times will vary depending on your oven.) Cool and serve.

These nutritious and tasty muffins make an excellent mid-morning snack, and they freeze well.  Will tells me that blue/purple fruits make you really smart, too -- he's planning to eat a lot of these to boost his brain power even more.  Enjoy! 

2 comments:

  1. I don't know why I never thought to comment on how much I love these. I can't have gluten, eggs, or sugar cane, so these muffins have been delicious life savers for me. I just recently used your recipe as a base to make a double chocolate chip version, so thank you, thank you, thank you again!!

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    1. Hi Rachel. I am so glad to hear that you love these muffins -- thank you for letting me know! A double chocolate chip version sounds absolutely delicious (and would definitely be a big hit with my boys). I'll have to try that too! :)

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