Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Healthy Banana Bran Muffins


A while back I made a post about my search for delicious healthy muffins. Cookie baker Lynn commented and directed me towards her healthy banana bran muffins. I of course had to try them and wow was I happy with the results. They are so incredibly tasty! My only issue is that All-Bran cereal has sugar in it, though surprisingly it doesn't have weird chemicals that seem to be added to a lot of packaged foods. I just did the math, and even with the sugar from the All-Bran cereal there's about 7 grams of added sugar in every muffin. However when you include the banana and the raisins, it's 12 grams of sugar in every muffin. The raisins really up the sugar but they're good for you so I won't really count that extra sugar. Ah this seems to be a glimpse into my obsessive nature with all the sugar talk, and this was scaled back! Next time I would try replacing the oil with applesauce, adding less sugar, adding more flax, and using pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon.


When I was making this recipe, I made quite a few changes (at least it was quite a few changes for me). I'm becoming more and more comfortable with making changes, moreso in cooking than in baking - a huge accomplishment for me! Before, if I didn't have the exact ingredients required for a recipe, I just couldn't make it. I needed to have apple cider vinegar - there was no way I could replace it with red wine vinegar. I wasn't even scared of what the muffins would turn out like - probably because I've made so many muffins recently that I know what things I can safely change (which is another accomplishment!) So yes, good for me and my adventurous baking. I'm growing as a baker/cook!


Banana Bran Muffins
(adapted from Cookie baker Lynn's recipe)

2 cups Kellogg's All-Bran cereal
1 1/4 cups milk (I used 1%)
1/3 cup raisins
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 banana, mashed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray, or line with cupcake papers.

2- In a large mixing bowl, combine bran cereal, milk and raisins. Let stand for about 2 minutes to soften the cereal.

3- Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ground flax seed in a small bowl. Set aside.

4- Into the softened bran mix stir the egg and oil. Beat well. Stir in the banana and walnuts. Add the flour mixture, stirring only until combined. Divide the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups.

5 - Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

15 comments:

Anh said...

I love this type of healthier breaky option. And although I don't like banana, they are truly great in baking products!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I have some bananas in the freezer just begging to be made into these muffins.

Patricia Scarpin said...

These look so good! I love how high they are, my muffins are never that "tall"!

Jennifer said...

Mmmmm...I love banana and bran too! I will be giving these a try! Thanks!

eatme_delicious said...

anh: I was trying to find healthy breakfast/snack options so I was really happy with this muffin! :) I don't think the banana is too strong in it, if you were wanting to try it.

valli: Ohh hope they turn out yummy for you!

patricia: Yea I was really happy with how they puffed right up! I'm always disappointed by flat muffins. I've started filling the muffin tins pretty full too though so that they'll be forced to come up a lot!

jennifer: Hope you like them! :)

Michael Natkin said...

Yum! Here's an idea for some variations!

eatme_delicious said...

michael: Thanks for the ideas. :)

pikayla said...

Delicious! I used two very ripe bananas (they were black) and added an extra handful of walnuts. I think the banana flavor would have been too thin with just one. I used Fiber One instead of All-Bran to eliminate the high fructose corn syrup. Next time I will add more raisins and a tsp of vanilla. A couple of muffins, a yogurt and a glass of milk or juice would make a nice breakfast that should carry you through the morning. They certainly are healthier than mix muffins and easy to make. I am going to try a cranberry orange version next.

eatme_delicious said...

pikayla: Glad you liked them! And great idea to use Fiber One instead of All Bran! I didn't know that there was HFCS in All-Bran (when I made these muffins I wasn't really looking for stuff like that but I am now). A cranberry orange version sounds delicious.

bdwill said...

I'm not a bran muffin guy but these look good!

Mark said...

These banana muffins looks delicious and they are healthy too as some of the study says that if you include banana to diet in some quantity than it can help you in getting flat belly.

Nina said...

I tried a varient of these muffins and they are delicious.

2 cups All Bran
1 1/4 cup soy milk (I am lactose intolerant)
1/2 cup saltanas
1/2 cup all purpose plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal SR flour
1/3 cup almond meal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup mashed banana (approx two large ripe bananas)
a little castor sugar to sprinkle on the top of each muffin before baking.

I combined the ingredients as described in the original recipe.

eatme_delicious said...

Nina: Awesome! I'm so glad you liked them. =)

Lisa said...

I realize this is an old post, but I found your recipe and tried them. I like your lower sugar and whole-wheat flour adaption from the original recipe. They tasted amazing! I used a whole cup of banana and they were perfectly moist. I had a first-time bran muffin eater try them with me and he gave me the thumbs up.
Thanks!

eatme_delicious said...

Lisa: So happy to hear you liked them! I like your idea of using extra banana.