M isn’t big on fruit – he will eat frozen blueberries and occasionally a gala apple or some red grapes.
Image via Wikipedia
But he will eat blueberry banana muffins. Occasionally, I will add chocolate chips. I make them in mini-muffin tins and freeze them, so they are easy to add to his lunch. He won’t go anywhere near a whole banana but he will eat these muffins by the handful. Even with chocolate chips, they are still pretty healthy.
This recipe is adapted from a cookbook entitled, Power Eating by Frances G Berhoff, Barbara J Lauer and Yves Talbot. It was given to me years ago by a friend – apparently it is still available. I have made this recipe so many times that the spine is permanently broken along the page. The recipe itself is covered in layers of flour overlaid by discoloured blobs of batter. Not pretty to look at it but it still works.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp all-spice
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sunflower or canola oil
1 egg (beaten)
3-4 medium-sized mashed bananas
4-6 tbsp water
1 cup frozen blueberries
1. In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil and combine until blended. Add in egg, banana and water – batter will be thick but you should be able to easily spoon it into muffin tins – if too thick, add another tbsp of water.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend until just moistened. Add blueberries until just blended. Batter will be turn a bit blue as the berries thaw, but you won’t notice it once they are cooked.
4. Spray 2 mini-muffin tins (12 muffins each) with non-stick spray. Fill each cup 3/4s full with batter.
5. Bake in 350 F oven for 15-20 minutes, until tops are golden or skewer comes out clean. Remove from muffin tins after 5 minutes and let stand until cool. Freeze in a freezer bag or plastic container.
You can easily make a double batch or use a regular sized muffin tin. Chances are both you and child will both enjoy them. And you don’t have to tell your kid that the muffins are actually good for them.
Mistheword 