November 17, 2020

These nutty, crunchy, healthy granola banana muffins are one recipe that you may go bananas over. Or, perhaps nuts for? Okay, enough with the funny puns. Let's get baking!

What to do with ripe bananas

When your bananas go ripe too fast, or you’re simply craving a muffin so delicious it would rival those bought from the swanky coffee shop downtown, this is the recipe you need. Filled with fibrous oats, protein-rich nuts and sweet bananas, these healthy Granola Banana Muffins will not disappoint. My kids love them with the addition of dark chocolate chips - I just sprinkle a few on top for fun before I pop the batch into the oven.

 

Are bananas healthy to eat?

Notorious for their potassium content, a mineral helpful for athletes or anyone feeling dehydrated, bananas are a healthy choice. Yet, you might want to eat a banana because it can help you slow down how fast you're aging. Bananas contain vitamin B6. B vitamins protect your telomeres. Telomeres are the ends of your DNA strands - they are protective, and help maintain the integrity of the DNA so it doesn't become damaged. How do B vitamins do this? There are 4 B vitamins that are needs to help the body breakdown an amino acid, called homocysteine. If homocysteine levels become high, it can damage telomeres, according to researchers from King's College London School of Medicine. If you'd like to learn more about telomeres and the role they play in how your body ages, check out Chapter 2 in Aging Bites.

 

Healthy Alternative Ingredients for Banana Muffins

There are many substitutions you can use here. As usually, halving the sugar content is an option. You can also use alternative sugars from coconut to maple syrup easily as this is a fairly forgiving recipe. In my house, the favourite crowd pleasure is a combination of almond flour and organic whole wheat flour, but this would work well with most flours. Go nuts switching out what nuts you include. Walnuts are a hit, while this time I used almonds.

Healthy Granola Banana Muffins RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (this is half almond flour, half whole wheat)
• 1 cup sugar (this is coconut sugar)
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 cups of coconut oil (or, butter if you prefer), melted and cooled
• 3 free range eggs
• 3/4 cup milk (this is milk, but oat milk or almond could be used)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup ripe bananas, medium diced
• 2 cups Vivacious Morning Granola (base only, no dried fruits added)
• 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare 18 muffin cups with liners. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder) in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil or butter, vanilla and mashed bananas. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix minimally, don’t over mix. It’s okay if its not fully combined. Fold in granola and diced bananas. Scoop into muffin liners to the top. Sprinkle with extra coconut and granola if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Vivacious Morning Granola Recipe

For more delicious healthy recipes, such as the Vivacious Morning Granola used in these muffins, you can find a dozen more in my book, Aging Bites.

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