Recipe: Whole Wheat Blueberry Banana Muffins

I bake a lot for others but for the first time in a very long while I baked something for me to keep in my apartment. I didn't want to go grocery shopping for more food (it's a Sunday ritual of mine - why rock the boat?), and since I have upped my calories a bit I needed some more portable snacks for work. I decided to journey onto dangerous territory and try my hand at self-control. Like Diane at Fit to the Finish recently posted, I too have had struggles with having "just one" of something I bake. Does anyone else have problems with this?

I successfully kept myself in check, only eating one right after they cooled a bit. I attribute this to the fact that I'm eating more throughout the day. I don't think I have felt the need to stuff myself these past few days because I'm not constantly hungry.

But less about me and more about these muffins! Mark Bittman did a write up a while back on how to make whole wheat muffins more palatable without adding a ton of white sugar. His secrets are a.) use whole wheat pastry flour because it yields lighter results, b.) use a cup of pureed or mashed fruit/vegetable (I opted for banana as I always have some extra ripe ones in my freezer) and c.) don't over mix!

I decided to take his tips and work with them to make the following:

Whole Wheat Blueberry Banana Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen blueberries tossed in a few pinches of flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° and place 12 paper baking cups in muffin pan. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon in a large bowl.
   
   
2. Mix beaten egg, brown sugar, greek yogurt, oil, banana and vanilla in a separate bowl. I used a hand-mixer here to make sure it was really well combined. Add to flour mixture, stirring until just combined. It is important not to over-stir. Lightly fold in blueberries and divide batter among muffin cups.
   
   
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned and toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Peachy Keen Muffins

Yesterday I picked up one single peach from the grocery store and figured I'd bake it into some muffins instead of eating it raw. The little fruit went a long way. These muffins have a lot of flavor.

Here's a quick recipe that was inspired by one I found on allrecipes.com. I made a very small batch but still plan on sharing. The recipe calls for a lot of sugar, which I think can probably afford to be halved. I'll definitely make these again, maybe next time with fresh berries or dried fruit.

Whole Wheat Peach Muffins
Makes 8 Muffins

• 1 1/5 c whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 c canola oil
• 1/4 c soy milk
• 1 extra large egg (lightly beaten)
• 1 c organic cane sugar
• 1 peach with skin pitted and chopped
• 1/4 c chopped pecans
• 2 tbsp unbleached white flour

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and place muffin liners in cups.
   
   
2. In a large bowl, mix whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In smaller bowl, mix canola oil, soy milk, egg and cane sugar. Stir well and then pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix just until moist. In another small bowl, toss chopped peaches and pecans with white flour and then fold into batter. Spoon mixture into muffin cups.
   
   
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in muffin pan for at least 10 minutes before placing muffins on wire racks to cool completely.