Branana Chocolate Nut Muffins

This is a recipe from Julie, via her work on The Family Kitchen on Babble. While Julie was inspired by the last crumbs of a box of cereal, I was inspired by a bunch of overripe bananas... and a nearly full box of bran cereal that B. decided he didn't like after the first bowl.




This recipe is so ridiculously easy (yet I just remade this yesterday and somehow managed to forget the oil, so I ended up with a batch of mushy pucks) - first, you pour milk (or buttermilk, if you have it) on top of bran cereal to form a slurry, then you add all the wet ingredients on top and mash it all up with a potato masher. (However, if you don't have one, I would recommend mashing the banana separately with a fork before adding it in.) Then comes the dry ingredients, and you're all ready to fill your muffin cups and bake.

    

Despite the use of bran cereal, these muffins don't taste gritty at all. I even used whole wheat flour to make things more wholesome. If you don't like or are allergic to nuts and/or chocolate, let your imagination run wild! You can leave your muffins plain, or add raisins, fresh blueberries, coconut... the list goes on...

Branana Chocolate Nut Muffins
Adapted from The Family Kitchen (Julie van Rosendaal)
Makes about 20 muffins

• 1 cup (250 mL) bran cereal
• 1 cup (250 mL) milk
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed if you don't have a potato masher
• ½ cup (125 mL) sugar
• ¼ cup (60 mL) vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
• 1½ cups (375 mL) whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
• ¼ cup (60 mL) chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup (60 mL) chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Pour bran cereal into a large mixing bowl, and add milk on top. Set aside for about 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed into cereal. Add bananas, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla, and mash everything with potato masher. (If you don't have one, make sure you've mashed the bananas with a fork first, and then stir everything until blended.)
2. Add flour and baking soda, and stir until almost combined. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips and mix until the batter is just blended.
3. Divide into paper-lined muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tops are golden and springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.*

Nutrition Info (per muffin): 126 calories, 5 g fat (1 g saturated), 9 mg cholesterol, 20 g carbohydrate (3 g fibre, 10 g sugar), 3 g protein, 80 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin B₆, folate (partly from fortification), vitamin B₁₂ (partly from fortification) and manganese. A good source of selenium.

*If you'd like to make branana bread instead, spread batter into a greased 8" × 4" loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until tops are golden and springy to the touch, and a cake tester inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.