Muffins! Did you say they are unhealthy?
It’s time to give it a fresh thought; time to take control and turn these so
called unhealthy foods into healthy ones. They make excellent snacks and can
also serve as a good breakfast, both for adults and children alike. Pack in
some healthy accompaniments and they can double up as good school lunches. Very
filling, satisfying and healthy.
These muffins contain the much energising
bananas. Whole wheat replaces refined flour and the addition of almond meal
packs in the much required nutrition. In powdered form it is a good way to
sneak in almonds for fussy children.
You will need:
Whole wheat flour – ½ cup
Roasted Almond meal – 1 tbsp
Brown Sugar – ½ cup (can use less as
sweetness is a matter of personal choice. I used a little less than ½ cup)
Bananas – 2
Egg – 1 large
Vegetable oil – ¼ cup
Chocolate chips – ¼ cup
Baking powder – ½ tsp
Salt – a pinch
Vanilla extract or essence – 1 tsp
Make it:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Line six muffin moulds with muffin cups.
Sieve the wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Separate the egg. Place the egg white,
sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat well until soft peaks form.
Add the oil to the egg mix and beat some
more till the oil is well incorporated. The beating at this stage is very
important. The more air you trap in it the frothier your mix and fluffier your
muffin.
Add the egg yolk and beat for a minute.
Now set your beater aside and pick up a
wooden spoon. Pour in half of the wheat flour and half of the almond meal. Mix
well. Add the remaining flours and mix again. You only need to fold in the flours so that they are mixed well. No beating is required here and make sure not to over mix.
Now it’s time to peel your bananas and mash
them. You could do this at the preparation stage also but by the time you have
to mix it in the batter they will change colour. If you wish to have the
freshly mashed colour then do it now. Mash and mix it in the batter.
All that remains is the chocolate chips.
Pour them into the batter and mix once again.
Spoon the batter in to the lined muffin
moulds filling just a little more than half full.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes
or till the top is dry and a skewer comes out clean.
Enjoy it hot or cold.
