Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

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5 from 1 vote

Whole wheat banana muffins are a healthier alternative to regular muffins.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: banana muffins with oil, dairy free banana muffins, healthy banana muffins, whole grain banana muffins, whole wheat banana muffins

Servings: muffins

Author: Ashley Adamant

Equipment

Muffin Pan

Ingredients

2 cups banana mashed, 1 banana is about 1/2 cup, but measure by volume.
1/2 cup oil
1 cup light brown sugar packed
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour or 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Optional About 1/4 cup Turbinado Sugar for Topping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Butter two 12-cup muffin tins or line them with papers.
Peel the ripe bananas into a large mixing bowl and mash them with a fork until mostly smooth.
Add the oil, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the mashed bananas. Stir until evenly combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold gently just until no dry flour remains. The batter will look shaggy and will thicken as it sits. Do not overmix.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling each about three quarters full. Top each muffin with 1/2 to 1 tsp of turbinado sugar if using.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and spring back when pressed. A toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Notes

Which oil: Any neutral oil works, such as canola, sunflower, or grapeseed, and so does a mild olive oil. Avoid peppery extra virgin olive oil, which will assert itself. Oil rather than butter is what keeps these soft for days and what makes the recipe dairy free.

Measure the banana, do not count it: At 450 g of banana against 240 g of flour, the fruit outweighs the flour nearly two to one and banana size varies a great deal. Mash into a measuring cup or weigh it and stop at 2 cups. That is roughly 4 to 5 medium bananas. Slightly short is fine and bakes faster; well over leaves wet centers.

Banana ripeness: Use fruit that is at least half black and smells sweet. Whole wheat is assertive enough to bury the flavor of underripe bananas. To ripen quickly, bake them unpeeled at 300F for 15 to 20 minutes until the skins are glossy black, then cool and mash.

Flour options: 100 percent whole wheat gives the nuttiest muffin. Half whole wheat and half all-purpose gives a lighter, more familiar result. White whole wheat swaps in one for one for something milder and paler that is still fully whole grain. Whole wheat absorbs liquid as it sits, so the batter thickening after mixing is normal.

Doneness: Whole wheat muffins brown less than white flour ones, so use the spring-back test rather than waiting for a golden top, which overbakes them.

As a loaf: The batter fills one 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350F for 60 to 75 minutes, laying a loose sheet of foil over the top at about 40 minutes so it does not over-brown.

Sourdough version: Add 1/2 cup of unfed sourdough discard to the wet ingredients for whole wheat sourdough banana bread, which bakes as a loaf or as muffins.

Add-ins: Fold in 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips or toasted chopped nuts with the dry ingredients, or 1 cup blueberries at the very end (frozen berries go in unthawed and need 3 to 5 extra minutes).

Dairy free: The recipe is dairy free as written. Line the tins with papers rather than buttering them to keep the whole batch dairy free.

Storage: In an airtight container at room temperature they keep 3 to 4 days. Do not refrigerate. To freeze, cool completely, freeze in a single layer on a sheet pan, then transfer to a bag for up to 3 months. A frozen muffin thaws in a lunchbox by mid-morning, or in 20 seconds in the microwave.

Nutrition