Wholesome banana crunch muffins! The BEST :)

Ba-Na-Nas! Probably the cheapest, healthiest and easily available all over the world, isn’t it? Back home, we always had bananas around! I remember when I was in school, my mom used to serve “Ghee-kela” (Sliced bananas drizzled with hot ghee and sprinkled with some sugar) as one of the side dish along with freshly made chapati! mmmmm…it is one of my favorite way of eating bananas. I even like them in fruit salad that my mom makes and I enjoy them a lot in my all time favorite banana cereal – Just slice some bananas into slightly sweetened cold milk, allow the flavors to mix for few minutes and tada – It’s ready! It is my all time favorite comfy and easy backup MEAL! 🙂

So basically these were the only ways I used to eat bananas until I started experimenting on baking. One of my friend/neighbor used to make this scrumptious banana cake for almost every potluck. Her cake was so moist and tasty that never really got chance to learn from her. Or should I say she never shared her secret!! But I didn’t give up, after trying MANY different recipes, I can say that this is the winner. The BEST! These muffins are perfectly balanced, crunchy, comfy and loaded with wholesome goods like granola, coconut, chocolate chips, nuts and of course loads of bananas. They are soo good that you won’t even realize that they are made of whole wheat flour and they are sugar-free and vegan!

Make a cake, muffins or whatever you want. I am sure you are going to love this.

Banana crunch Muffins: Preparation time: 10 minutes Baking time: 25-30 minutes Yields: 12 muffins Ingredients

• 3 large ripe (with lots of brown spots) mashed bananas – LARGE
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour – yup whole wheat
• 1 tsp BS (Baking Soda)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup organic honey / brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp melted unsalted butter – use margarine for vegan version
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup organic granola of any kind (I used Mixed fruit and nut store-bought organic granola)
• Dried banana chips for crunchy topping

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. And spray the top of muffin pan with cooking oil, so that when muffins are baked it is easy to take them out.
3. Sift dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking soda) in a large mixing bowl.
4. In a separate medium-sized bowl, add mashed bananas, melted butter/margarine, honey/brown sugar, vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Now add banana mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. The mixture should look like thick clumpy batter. Not too thick, not too thin! If it is too dry, add more mashed banana to adjust the consistency. You can even use a bit of milk/almond milk or even apple sauce if you are out of bananas.
6. Once mixed, fold in granola, coconut, chocolate chips and walnuts into the batter.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin pans. I use Ice cream scoop for even size. Top each muffin with dries banana chips, if desired.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.