You guys are going to LOVE these muffins!
I never thought I’d really like a 100% whole wheat muffin. I mean, I’ve had plenty of decent ones before, but if I had my druthers then I’d always go with just a little bit all-purpose flour just to make them a bit more tender. Because whole wheat can detenderize sometimes, ya?
So I went to bake my normal banana bread muffins (I thought about caramelizing the bananas like Pinch of Yum, but she’s already been-there-done-that, so I left the little guys alone) and went to my pantry to grab my flour and Whoops! Out of whole wheat flour. I’ve tried to buy some the past 4 times I’ve been at the store but the Vons I go to only carries the regular whole wheat flour and not the white whole wheat flour. Wahh. And I’m picky so I just go without, because white whole wheat is where it’s at (read >> no grainy baked goods! no dark that-totally-looks-like-whole-wheat-and-detenderized muffins!).
But then! I noticed the jar (it’s kind of giant and hard to miss) of whole wheat pastry flour in my cupboard and a little light went on in my head – 100% whole wheat muffins! Made with whole wheat pastry flour! dun dun dunnnn.
And I guess this was a day of fortuitous woops, because I melted twice the coconut oil I had intended and just threw it in there anyway. And it made the most amazingly tender whole wheat muffins I have EVER had! #hearthealthyfatsforthewin
Don’t worry, I decreased the other fats in the recipe to accommodate. I’m personally of the opinion that fats aren’t bad for you, but you don’t want to over-do it. But this is NOT A NUTRITION BLOG, so here we go with our super soft and yummy coconut oil & whole wheat muffins!
Gratuitous puppy picture. Dedas also liked the muffins. She did not like that I was taking pictures of the muffins and not throwing the ball. That is the face of a grumpy puppy if I’ve ever seen one.
Anyway. Back to the muffins.
Tender! Cinnamon! Banana! Whole Wheat! Coconut oil! and the best part? I honestly think the best part of these muffins are the fresh-picked blueberries that my parents brought up when they were here last. AJ was totally skeptical about me putting blueberries in banana muffins, but I proved to be correct on these. When I asked how he liked them his enthusiastic “Yes!” was all I needed.
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp ground flax seed + 5 Tbsp water
- 3 large ripe bananas
- ½ cup turbinado sugar, or brown sugar
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a muffin pan.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
- Combine the flax and water in a small bowl and set aside.
- Peel the bananas and place in a large bowl. Mash them up with a fork until only small chunks remain. Add the sugar and flax and mix well. Add the coconut oil in a stream while whisking vigorously – when finished, you don’t want to see a clear film of oil on the edges. If you do, mix more!
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until almost incorporated. Add the blueberries and gently fold in.
- Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups, filling to just about ¾ full. Sprinkle the tops with more turbinado sugar, or another coarse-grain sugar.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a pick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove to a cooling rack. Eat one while it’s warm!