Healthy Eats: Banana Blueberry Muffins

By Trish Coffman

Who doesn’t like a nice, warm muffin?

Turn it into a smart breakfast carb — rather than a dessert masquerading as the most important meal of the day — by using whole grain flours, minimal sweetener and swapping healthy fats for the usual butter.

You will need:

• 1 C white whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 C Kamut flour (substitute white whole wheat if you don’t have Kamut)
• 1/3 C ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch kosher salt
• 3/4 C blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 C low-fat yogurt
• 2 medium to large very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 C)
• 1/2 C honey or maple syrup
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 C chopped walnuts or almonds (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or by spraying it with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add the flours, ground flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then combine with a whisk. Gently stir in the blueberries. In another large bowl, combine the yogurt, bananas, honey, and canola oil until well blended. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined (over-stirring will result in heavy muffins). Fill the muffin cups three-fourths full with the batter (it’s helpful to use a measuring cup or cookie scoop sprayed with cooking spray). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the nuts.

Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the tin on a cooling rack for a few minutes, then remove muffins and let them cool completely on the rack.