Off to a new week and happy spring break to those of you on break. My daughter has the entire week off from school and I hope it will be a good week even though we will be off schedule. I have play dates scheduled in advance and thinking about making our first trip to Whole Foods (finally one in our area), we will see how adventurous I am later in the day with three kids, hmm . . . just thinking about shopping makes me exhausted but I really want to check out the new store!
I would like to ask all the moms out there, “Do you ever get tired of your kids eating junk?” These last couple of weeks I feel like my kids eat poor at meal time and later then head for the snacks such as crackers, light fudge bars, popcorn, and yes those darn Cadbury mini eggs. I try to keep the snacks somewhat healthy but I will be happy when I do not see those mini Cadbury eggs in the store anymore – they are vicious! Well, this week I decided to finally use up those old bananas in the freezer and make some muffins.
I have been playing around with this recipe for awhile and I think I got it right this time. The muffins are light, fluffy and pretty darn good for you! I put them to test on my kids.
Instead of using butter or margarine, I used coconut oil. Coconut oil is a saturated fat but can be easily broken down in the body like an unsaturated fat. If you do not have this you may use butter but whatever you do, DO NOT use stick margarine. Margarine in the stick-form is plain ole’ hydrogenated fat that can raise your LDL, lousy, cholesterol and lower your HDL, healthy, cholesterol.
I blended brown sugar with coconut oil for a couple of minutes until completely combined. Next add bananas and egg and blend well. I keep my left over bananas in the freezer and then defrost them, that is why they look a bit different.
Now for the dry ingredients: baking soda, baking powder, flour and ground flaxseed.
If you do not have or do not like flaxseed you may substitute with whole wheat flour or you may use chia flour. Flaxseed is loaded with omega-3’s and fiber.
I added 1/2 cup of milk to form it into a batter.
I love making them into mini muffins because they are perfect portion size for kids (adults too), which means we do not waste any at my house! They eat the entire muffin and sometimes want more!
Bake at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes. I used to do 10 minutes but that sometimes leave the middle a little gooey.
Make a bunch and then freeze for later!
Great for breakfast or snack! Satisfying and very yummy!
Banana Mini Muffins (Serving size: 1 mini muffin. Makes 36 muffins.)
Ingredients
1/2 cup enriched flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup ground or milled flaxseed
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 to 3 bananas
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, beat together coconut oil and brown sugar. Add bananas and eggs and mix until well-combined. Add dry ingredients. Moisten batter by adding milk, vanilla and cinnamon Pour batter into a greased (or use paper liners) mini cupcake pan. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.
Nutrition Facts per serving: 48 calories, 1 g protein, 3 g fat, 7 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 50 mg sodium
And I would say we have a winner! I tend to call them cupcakes to my kids so they will really eat them, ha!
