A small hand of bananas in my fruit bowl starting to turn brown, had me reaching for a recipe to use it today.
When you live around the corner from Tartine bakery, why would you bother to bake anything from scratch you may ask. Aside from making use of the ripe bananas I had on hand, here's my other two reasons for doing that today:
For one, in the time it takes to wait in line for a breakfast pastry, you could bake muffins from scratch (it's true - this morning 35 minutes before opening, the line at Tartine was already a dozen people deep...) Second reason: You get to control the ingredients and bake some healthy goodness into it.
With that in mind, I tried this
Banana Wheat Muffin recipe from the Vegetarian Times today.
It's a pretty simple and very basic recipe. First mix dry ingredients by lightly whisking to incorporate baking powder and baking soda into flour. It consists partially of all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour and added wheat bran. Lots of fiber!
Then mash bananas and mix wet ingredients together. This recipe even cuts out the high calorie egg yolk, and only uses 1 egg white.
I did not have the chocolate chips that the recipe called for, but my substitution of chopped walnuts were a perfect addition, and making it even a bit more healthy.
Tip: Nuts stay fresh in the freezer much longer than outside. I always have an assortment of nuts in the freezer to use in impromptu baking occasions just like today, or to add to a salad, or make a quick pesto sauce.
You may have wondered why the pictures above are of bread slices when the post is about a muffin recipe. I've decided to bake in a loaf pan as I'm planning to freeze some of the bread for breakfast on the go over the next few weeks. I find that a bread slices are easier to wrap and freeze than awkward shaped muffins. One can also then pop slices into the toaster for a quick defrost and light toast.
I baked the loaf approximately 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 375F. Keep testing for doneness after about 20 minutes until baked through.
I found the bread surprisingly moist considering the very low fat content and delicious as is, but really good served with some berry preserves. Lots of fiber and fruit, and low fat - this turned out great!
A small hand of bananas in my fruit bowl starting to turn brown, had me reaching for a recipe to use it today.
When you live around the corner from Tartine bakery, why would you bother to bake anything from scratch you may ask. Aside from making use of the ripe bananas I had on hand, here's my other two reasons for doing that today:
For one, in the time it takes to wait in line for a breakfast pastry, you could bake muffins from scratch (it's true - this morning 35 minutes before opening, the line at Tartine was already a dozen people deep...) Second reason: You get to control the ingredients and bake some healthy goodness into it.
With that in mind, I tried this Banana Wheat Muffin recipe from the Vegetarian Times today.
It's a pretty simple and very basic recipe. First mix dry ingredients by lightly whisking to incorporate baking powder and baking soda into flour. It consists partially of all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour and added wheat bran. Lots of fiber!
Then mash bananas and mix wet ingredients together. This recipe even cuts out the high calorie egg yolk, and only uses 1 egg white.
I did not have the chocolate chips that the recipe called for, but my substitution of chopped walnuts were a perfect addition, and making it even a bit more healthy.
Tip: Nuts stay fresh in the freezer much longer than outside. I always have an assortment of nuts in the freezer to use in impromptu baking occasions just like today, or to add to a salad, or make a quick pesto sauce.
You may have wondered why the pictures above are of bread slices when the post is about a muffin recipe. I've decided to bake in a loaf pan as I'm planning to freeze some of the bread for breakfast on the go over the next few weeks. I find that a bread slices are easier to wrap and freeze than awkward shaped muffins. One can also then pop slices into the toaster for a quick defrost and light toast.
I baked the loaf approximately 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 375F. Keep testing for doneness after about 20 minutes until baked through.
I found the bread surprisingly moist considering the very low fat content and delicious as is, but really good served with some berry preserves. Lots of fiber and fruit, and low fat - this turned out great!
