Well Fed Network

Posted by Sandy Smith on Just Baking

Okay, I’ll admit it: I don’t love whole wheat! But I do love experimenting with recipes that use whole wheat in a way that camouflages the rather strong (to me, anyway) flavor of it. To that end, I’ve made countless batches of muffins, cookies, pancakes, and quick breads with a variety of ingredients and ratios of whole wheat to unbleached white flour and other grains. I’ve had excellent results with fruit flavors, which seem to complement the natural sweetness of the wheat, and adding oats and brown sugar rounds out the flavor nicely.This Banana Walnut Multigrain Muffin came out of one such experiment, and despite the fact that it contains no white flour at all—just wheat flour, bran flakes, and oats—it’s mild and moist (and nothing at all like some of the sawdust-textured wheat products I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to sample). Even for a wheat muffin! Feel free to toss in some raisins or dried cherries, and this recipe doubles easily and freezes well, so you might want to make a double batch for busy mornings.

Banana Walnut Whole Grain Muffins

• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup bran-flake cereal
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 very ripe large banana, mashed
• 1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oats
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400 °F. Spray muffin cups with nonstick baking spray.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk and cereal. To cereal mixture, add egg, oil, brown sugar, honey, and mashed banana. Stir until well mixed. In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix briefly, just till dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in walnuts and spoon batter into muffin cups—12 regular or 6 jumbo. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack.

Makes 12 regular-size muffins or 6 jumbo