Healthy - Yes! Healthy.... Banana Blueberry Muffins

So despite my first entry, followed by an email... I sill feel like the one who is dominating this blog. I can't help but wonder if thats how it will continue. Anyone up for the challenge?

Anyway, I think most of the ladies of the family subscribe to Everyday Food magazine, and if so you probably saw this recipe in the most recent January/February 2009 issue for healthy banana blueberry muffins. Now if you're like me, you love an excuse to use those overripe bananas you bought in the hopes of eating a healthy breakfast every morning... but alas, you didn't and they sat there to ripen to the point of inedible ... that is unless you like to mash em up and throw them in a quick bread! So here's the recipe, which you can also find in your magazine... but with a few slight changes to appeal to my own taste buds.

Banana-Blueberry Muffins
adapted from a reader recipe in Everyday Food magazine

Makes 12 - Prep Time: 30 minutes - Total Time: 55 minutes + cooling

Ingredients:
1c whole wheat flour - spooned and leveled!!!
3/4c all-purpose flour
1/4c wheat germ*
1t baking soda
1/2t salt
1/2t cinnamon
1/2c (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3c granulated sugar
1/3c packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas (about 1lb)
1/3c lowfat buttermilk
1t pure vanilla extract
1c frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 - 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have about 3/4 cup); stir in buttermilk and vanilla.

3. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries. (You can throw in a little flour with the blueberries to help keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin batter. Also, after making these, I felt like you could add a little more blueberries than it calls for)

4. Divide batter among muffin cups.** Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean, 25-28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack and cool 10 minutes more.

* wheat germ was hard to locate in the grocery store, but I finally found it in the cereal isle. It comes in a jar, similar to an instant coffee jar. If you can't find it, I don't think its an ingredient that is necessary - but it adds a lot of healthy components to the muffins. Make sure to refrigerate it after opening!

** Muffins, unlike cupcakes, rise and don't fall off the sides of the pan. Don't be afraid to fill the muffin cups to the top! I find it easiest to use one of those spring loaded ice cream scoops to scoop batter into the muffin pan. So much easier and no mess! So yes, this makes 12 - so please don't try and spread it out to make 15.


Alright, so there you have it. Another recipe submitted by lauren. Oh! I guess I should claim the ones I submit! just thought about that. I'll try and take pictures of my food and go back and add them to the posts to help show what these things look like when done. mmmm time for me to go eat a muffin!