The combination of banana + coffee takes me back to my days of owning Wendy’s. One of employees introduced me to the flavour combination and I have never looked back! To make these muffins just that little more special I added in the walnuts to create a Banana, Walnut + Coffee Muffin. I actually think this is the first sweet muffin I have put together.
Now I didn’t want these to actually have chunks of banana in them so instead of mashing the banana all the ‘wet’ ingredients went into the blender to be whizzed together. Now this is not necessary and if you want to just put those ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk them together by all means go for it. If you do use the blender you get this thick smooth mix ready to combine with your dry ingredients. In the egg free version it reminds me of a smoothie!
Like much of my sweet baking, these Banana, Walnut + Coffee Muffins are not what many consider sweet. Having eliminated sugar for the most part from my diet for so many years now I find that conventially sweet foods are not at all palatable for me. And oh the blood sugar that comes with it – feelings of anxiety, heart rate increase, the low mood once the sugar has worn off – really just isn’t worth it for me any more.
Personally I feel it is time we change our relationship with sugar and this needs to start with our children as well as ourselves. Our tastebuds will adapt to what we are eating. Our gut microbes will adapt to what we are eating. I know this to be true from my own personal experience but also the experience of my clients.
We need to understand that the carbohydrate in refined white sugar is different from the carbohydrate that is found in a banana. That the fat from a store bought donut is not the same as the fat in olive oil.
The adding of the coffee also detracts from some of the sweetness so this can be omitted, personally though I love these!
These Banana, Walnut + Coffee Muffins can really be enjoyed anytime. I did have them in mind for breakfast, which is why I didn’t want them super sweet, when I was making them but they are also a great snack. They are super soft, almost sponge like, and with the added walnuts give it a nice texture change.
What do I need?
- 1 and 1/2 cups of Buckwheat Flour
- 1/2 cup of Almond Meal
- 1/2 cup of Oats* or Quinoa Flakes
- 2 teaspoons of Baking Powder
- 1/2 cup of Walnuts, broken + whole walnut halves for the tops
- 3 medium Bananas + an extra banana sliced for the tops
- 2 eggs*
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- 1/2 cup Plant Milk of choice
- 2 tablespoons of Instant Decaf Coffee
- 1/4 cup of Honey or Pure Maple Syrup
Let’s Do This!
1. Preheat oven to 180c, fan forced. Either grease or line a muffin tray to hold 9 muffins or 12 small muffins
2. In large mixing bowl combine the buckwheat flour, almond meal, oats/quinoa flakes, baking powder + walnuts
3. Place the banana, eggs, EVOO, coffee, milk + honey in a blender and blend till smooth.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture from the blender. Stir through until just combined.
5. Spoon mixture into the greased/lined muffin tray and top each muffin with slices of banana and a walnut halve.
6. Place muffin tray in oven for 25-30 minutes for medium muffins or 20-25 for small muffins or until golden brown on top. You should be able to insert a skewer into the centre of the muffins and have it come out clean.
7. Allow muffins to cool in the muffin tray for 10 – 15 minutes then remove carefully and place on a wire rack to cool.
NOTE
* To make these muffins egg free/vegan use 2 chia or flax eggs. Simply combine 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal or milled chia seeds with 6 tablespoons of water and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add the soaked flaxseed meal or chia mixture in place of eggs and add 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar to the dry ingredients.
* To keep this recipe gluten free you will need to use gluten free oats. In Australia these are very hard to come by so please use quinoa flakes as the substitute.
These can be store in an air-tight container for 2 days or in the fridge for 4 days, then freeze.
Makes 9 to 12 muffins
This recipe is gluten + diary free, can be made egg free and is vegan friendly.