The Best Whole Wheat Banana Muffins, Ever

I have finally found a banana muffin recipe we all loved. It uses ALL whole food ingredients and is delicious! Plus, it’s kid approved!

If you have been waiting for the perfect banana muffin that has little to no refined sugars, is full of nutrition, and that your kids might even sneak and eat, look no further!

Have you ever tried a “healthy” muffin recipe and been disappointed? Like it felt like you just had a handful of sadness and sawdust, wrapped in a cupcake paper? It’s awful.

Maybe your muffin tasted great but there was some guilt about how much sugar or processed things had to be added so that anyone in your home would actually eat it.

Or Maybe that has only happened to me. ha!

Either way, I have finally found and perfected the perfect heathy banana muffin recipe for my crew and I want to share it with you! Maybe some picky eaters in your home will love it too!

Do you grind your own wheat?

So this part is unnecessary, and is something I haven’t done for very long, but I learned a few things recently about freshly milled wheat recently so I am trying to make more food with it. It does really well in this recipe!

Let me just blow your mind with this little fact!

Fresh milled wheat berries contain 40 of the 44 essential nutrients (that come from food) needed to sustain life. The only 4 food-based nutrients that are missing from freshly milled wheat are vitamins A, B_12, and C, and the mineral iodine.

Whoa! I had no idea. Did you?!

Wheat (and gluten) has gotten a pretty bad rap lately (I talk more about that here), but if you can eat it, I would. I think using fresh wheat berries and whole grains is an ideal way to get some great nutrition in you and your kids! I have a Whisper Mill Grain Grinder, but this one is great too.

Often whole grain baked items can get heavy and dense, so we are going to add a few things to help with that. This recipe uses freshly milled wheat and I also added some all purpose flour to lighten things up. You an also just make the whole recipe with all-purpose flour. I love King Arthur brand.

While I have made dozens and dozens of loaves of banana bread in the past, I have found that making muffins is actually better with the little hands I have here. I make them in mini and full sizes and are great to eat on the go with less mess!

Are these muffins actually healthy?

I’m going to go with an “Oh yah!” here.

We’ve replaced refined sugar with maple syrup (you can also use substitutions). We are using whole wheat instead of white flour. The bananas are already full of vital nutrients, like potassium and fiber. In fact, bananas also have small amounts of vitamin C, iodine, and even trace amounts of Vitamin A. If you use the recommended butter and eggs, you even get some of your needed B12. Now you’ve covered all those vital nutrients we talked about above and have a really healthy snack you can even take on-the-go!

What You’ll Need

The thing I love about these muffins is that there aren’t many ingredients AND you can make it all in ONE bowl. Can you believe it? They just keep getting better and better.

Let’s go over each ingredient:

• Bananas: overripe is best. Overripe organic is even better. Look for sales at your grocery store when they mark down these beauties.
• Eggs: If you need to sub you can use a flax egg.
• Maple syrup: you can sub any other liquid sweetener like honey or agave nectar as well.
• Room temp butter: You can sub melted coconut oil or avocado oil if you’d like.
• Vanilla extract: use REAL vanilla for the best results. (You can even make your own!)
• Cinnamon: You can also add nutmeg: these muffins taste perfect with just a hint of these warm spices.
• Fresh milled or whole wheat flour: You can also just use an unbleached all-purpose flour like King Arthur.
• Baking Soda: to help the muffins rise, just right.
• Salt: it is a flavor enhancer and helps bring out the flavor of the food. So says my mama.

How to make the muffins

1. Prep for baking: preheat the oven to 400°. Yep 400°. This temp gets the muffins to rise quickly and keeps them from falling flat on you.
2. Mash your bananas. Place the bananas in a large bowl. Use a fork or beaters to mash them up until only small lumps are left. Overripe bananas will mash easily.
3. Add the wet ingredients: add the maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla to the banana mixture.
4. Add the dry ingredients: add in the flour mixture, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda to the banana mixture. Use a rubber scraper to mix all the ingredients until well combined but not overmixed. If you want to add nuts, chocolate chips, or even blueberries, now is the time.
5. Line and fill the muffin tins: We like to use oil or butter to line the tins, but paper liners are great too. Then we fill them almost to the top. Filling the cups more will also help with the shape of the muffin. If you want to add a crumble topping. Now is the time to sprinkle that on top of your wet batter.
6. Bake: Bake 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out fairly clean. If you take them out of the oven too soon, the middle will get dense and kinda yuck.
7. Cooling: Remove muffins from the oven and let them rest for about 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack from the muffin tins. This will prevent sweating.

Tips:

To store and reheat: Keep muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Then put in refrigerator or freezer. Can be reheated in a toaster oven for about 2-3 minutes or by microwave by wrapping in a towel and microwaving for about 30 seconds .

To freeze: flash freeze on a baking sheet for 30 minutes and then transfer to an airtight container or zip lock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on counter overnight before reheating. Can be warmed in a microwave or toaster oven.

Add-ins: You can add 1/2 cup of any add-ins you like. We love chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, dehydrated cranberries, and even fresh or frozen blueberries.

Crumble topping: We love making a crumble topping to sprinkle on half of these. It will add a little sugar though. I often just throw these ingredients together quickly in a bowl. 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats (you can slightly blend this if you prefer that texture). Then add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of soft butter to the oats. You can also add 1/4 tsp vanilla. Mix well with a fork until crumbly and sprinkle on top of muffins before baking.