Whole Wheat Banana Almond Choco Chip Muffins

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.