Whole wheat banana muffins

Recently I saw this recipe from fellow Boston-area blogger, Michele at FoodieMommy. She inspired me to take a leap of faith and incorporate whole wheat into my baking. (I've been wanting to do this for ages, but had always been afraid of clunky unkid-friendly results.)

My sous chefs loved helping me with this recipe. Especially the banana mashing. My little hooligans appreciate the art of destruction in culinary preparation.



The recipe was very easy to follow. The results? I baked 12 muffins. Less than 1.5 hours and a playdate later, only 3 muffins remained. Not one child questioned the muffins. Mr. Picky loves, loves, loves them. So do I. They are lightly sweet. Fairly moist. Not chewy or gluey or heavy. Just right.





Whole wheat banana muffins
(From FoodieMommy)

Ingredients:
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed (or frozen bananas, defrosted)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups of King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour (I used this) OR 1 1/2 cups of white flour and 1 cup of wheat flour, mixed.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated.

Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.