Banana Muffins

I am of the opinion that if you bake on a regular basis (or even on a not-so-regular basis) one STAPLE recipe you MUST have is...BANANA MUFFINS! Why? So, you have over-ripe bananas? Make muffins! You see bananas marked for 50% off at the grocery store? PERFECT FOR MUFFINS! Banana muffins freeze easily, they are easy to make & (perhaps the most important thing!)...have you EVER met anyone that does not like banana muffins? 

Over the years, I have tried a few different recipes and I will suddenly decide that one is my favourite only to discover yet another banana muffin recipe that I (or my partner) like better than the one we previously had dubbed as "NOTHING CAN POSSIBLY TOP THIS" banana muffin recipe. I've finally settled on not a favourite recipe but a few "go to" recipes all depending on the ingredients I have around the house. Some are egg free, some are not egg free (in which case, I use egg-replacer powder), some have oil, some are fat-free, some are sugar free, some use maple syrup as a sweetener, etc. Some I add chocolate chips to, some I don't. You get the idea. 

My go-to recipe of the MOMENT (and I say moment because we know it will change next week) is from the amazingly awesome recipe book "Forks Over Knives: The Cookbook". The book itself deserves a blog post all its own because it is the best vegetarian/vegan book I've ever encountered and it has over 300 recipes in it. Oh, and if you haven't seen the movie "Forks Over Knives", you need to. Trust me. Okay...BACK TO THE MUFFINS!

This particular recipe is fat-free unless you add walnuts, which would make these oh-so-tasty muffins even tastier. It's also egg and dairy free. It's simple and super quick to make!

The recipe is called "Better-Than-Mom's Banana Bread". So yes, it's a for a bread but you can put it in muffin tins and call it muffins...SO THERE! 

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used Spelt flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (I did not add salt. I never do)
• 1 cup mashed banana (about three ripe banana)
• 1/2 cup 100% pure maple syrup (I'll confess...I used the cheapo fake syrup because it was all I could grab at the grocery store!)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup unsweetened plant-based milk (I used almond)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and, if you add it, salt. If you want, add a bit of cinnamon. I totally did. I'm a cinnamon fiend though. 
• In a blender, blend the banana, maple syrup, applesauce, plant-based milk and vanilla. You don't actually have to use a blender. You can mash the banana with a fork and stir in the other ingredients but I was feeling lazy and wanted to say what happened if I blended it. Worked like a charm! When I need to relieve stress, that's when I tend to mash banana...
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix.
• Now...you can put the mixture into muffin tins (makes 12) OR put it into a 8 X 4 inch loaf pan. I've only ever done the muffins tins. 
• If in muffins tins, bake for about 20 minutes. If in loaf pan, bake for 55-60 minutes. 

Banana muffiny deliciousness :)

Do you have a staple banana muffin recipe? Any "secret" ingredients? Let me know if you give this recipe a try and what you think of it!