Banana Walnut Muffins

Ingredients (I made 17 large muffins and 24 minis with this one recipe):
-1 C AP flour
-1 C whole wheat flour
-1.25 C oats
-4 large very ripe bananas, mashed
-3 jumbo eggs
-1/2 C packed brown sugar
-1/2 C walnuts, roughly chopped
-1/3 C applesauce
-1/3 C milk
-1 TB chia seed (optional)
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-pinch of salt
-1/2 TB cinnamon (less if yours is really strong)
-3 shakes ginger
-2 shakes nutmeg

Quite a list, no?  Quite a muffin.  Mash the bananas and mix with the egg, vanilla, spices, milk, applesauce, and brown sugar until incorporated.  Add in the dry ingredients next and mix until just combined.  You may find that you need to add a touch more flour depending on what types of things you use, e.g. I use very chunky applesauce and you may choose to use a very smooth applesauce.  This could change the texture and you may need to adjust on the fly.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers (I highly suggest shelling out the extra money and getting the good foil ones) and put a large ice cream sized scoop in each tin.  These raise a bit but don't run.  They dome more than really spread. I topped mine with a mix of almond flour, oats, and brown sugar.  That step is completely optional and you could just use oats or nuts to give them a nice textured look.

Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes or until the top starts to turn golden.  The minis I baked about 12 minutes, they might have been able to handle up to 15.  Remove to a cooling rack and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired.  I love this step.  For whatever reason, it seems impossible to get enough cinnamon in a recipe for me, so I always love to have some on the top of the muffin as well.  As I typically do not make overly sweet muffins, that added sweetness on top is also beneficial.

I get really excited when I walk into the grocery store and they have spotty clearance bananas, because I know it is always going to be a fun adventure.  Banana nut is one of my all time favorite muffins and bananas in general are just really versatile, which I love.  Plus, this recipe does not reduce my butter stash, and that is a big plus for me.  Butter is gold in this apartment!

Since I was not at work Monday and since I ate all the pretzels that were going to go to work with me Monday, I felt it only right to make up for it.  I did not want to make pretzels again, and who doesn't love a muffin to start the day.  It also is not as much cleanup as a pretzel, although I did manage to get flour all over my black tank top.

But that is sadly nothing new to me.

Happy crafting!