Friday, April 20, 2012

Super Healthy Banana Muffins


This week my son is taking The Achievement test. He goes to a private school, so its kind of like the STAR tests in public school. When I picked him up from school last week he said in a very serious voice "mom, I have some very important information in my folder for you to read. It's about me." At this point I am thinking, "Oh man, he probably got in trouble." It was actually a paper that stated how important these tests are, and how the students where going to need a good amount to rest, pencils, a good breakfast and snacks with a drink. No junk food or sugary drinks. I told my son not to worry...I was on it! So this recipe and blog is about one of his favorite snacks. Banana bread muffins. With my own tweaks to make them healthier. Enjoy!

  • 4 very ripe bananas
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup blend of regular sugar and splenda, equal parts.
  • 2 tablespoons light butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons applesauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
There's really nothing stopping you from just dumping all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing it all together, and then pouring it in the greased pans to bake, but I really think following these directions will make the end product just a little better. So here you go:
  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Cream sugar with butter (this helps to get all the butter blended smoothly!)
  3. Add egg, and beat lightly to get the mixture to fluff up a little.
  4. Add the 4 bananas, already smashed up in a separate bowl (a pastry fork works really well for mashing and mixing the bananas if you don't feel like busting out the mixer)
  5. Add the vanilla, and applesauce.
  6. Then add all the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.
  7. Pour mixture into pan sprayed with cooking spray so they don't stick! (Either 2 loaf pans, or a 12-cup muffin pan)
  8. Bake for around 50 minutes, probably less for muffins, but keep an eye on them either way. You'll be able to tell it's all ready when the color is good and golden brown, or when a knife comes out clean from the center.
  9. Remove muffins or loaves from pans to cool on a rack.
My tweaks:

I
am really trying to cut out sugar in his diet...completely if I can help it. Here are my substitutes.

Instead of butter I used sweetened apple sauce.
Instead of sugar I added 1/2 a cup of pure raw & unfiltered honey.
Instead of white flour, I used 100% whole wheat flour.

Finally, since I made mini muffins, these only took about 25 to 30 min to bake. If your making a loaf or bigger muffins, it will take longer.

Verdict---Delicious! Moist! Perfect portion size for adults and perfect snack size for kids!

Ayden is ready for his testing with his yummy and healthy snack!


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