Banana Blueberry Muffins

The same weekend I made the Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes I had some over-ripe bananas and a pint of blueberries that needed to be put to good use. On the weekend I usually hate making dinner, but am more than happy to make breakfast since I don't have the opportunity to all week long. So, breakfast was the obvious use for the surplus fruit. I did some searching online and came across a recipe from Everyday Food that I thought would fit the bill perfectly. These muffins were in the January 2008 issue, but I apparently overlooked them. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of banana-flavored baked goods. Banana bread and I were never fast friends. But I needed to use these bananas up so I thought I'd give this recipe a go. These muffins were just sweet enough, and not too detrimental to your health thanks to the whole wheat and wheat germ. If you've got some bananas waiting to be used then I recommend you give these muffins a shot.

Healthy Banana-Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 12














1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas (about 1 pound)
1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.
• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.
• With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.
• Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

My notes: I used soy milk instead of 2%, and I used fresh blueberries since I had them. This recipe was printed in January, which I assume is why they used frozen.