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Banana Muffins

Reesha Chibba

I’ve been having a real affair with chocolate this festive season. But recently I've upped my weekly mileage and have been rationalizing the calories by what I burn on the road. Of course, I can never run long enough for the amount of chocolate I eat. 

So this week, I decided to pacify my sweet tooth by trying to create a muffin that is sweet but nutritious. This muffin is predominantly designed to be full of fiber. There’s Nutty Wheat in here, wheat bran, and oats. All of which are good for the digestive system - unless you suffer from an auto-immune disorder and are following a gluten-free diet. 

This muffin can be sweetened with honey or xylitol, but I’m pretty happy with the maple flavour. To be honest I did consider chucking a considerable amount of Lindt dark chocolate in here but I changed my mind. All for the love of health. 

Did you know: Oats are considered to be a whole grain. It’s a wonderful source of fiber - 4 grams to half a cup so it’s not a heck of a lot but it is a rather powerful type called beta-glucan that helps regulate cholesterol. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup nutty wheat flour

1/2 cup brown stoneground flour

1/2 cup oat flour

1/3 cup steel-cut oats

2 mashed banana’s

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp bicarbonate 

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 large eggs at room temperature 

pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup olive oil

Method

  1. Line a muffin tray with 12 cases and preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

  2. You will need three large bowls.

  3. Mash bananas and add bicarb to them.

  4. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients and whip with a whisk for 1 minute. Add banana and whisk for another 30 seconds.

  5. In the final bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a fork. Make a well in the middle.

  6. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold the mixture until it’s combined. Do not overmix. At this stage, you can pretty much add anything you like; nuts, cranberries, chocolate chips, dates, etc.

  7. With a large spoon, scoop them into the casings 1/2 way full.

  8. Sprinkle each muffin with a few extra oats on the top and bake them for 20 minutes in the oven.