Honey-Sweetened Spiced Banana Muffins

These pretty little gems were another installment of Muffin Monday.  I make muffins every Monday for Mark to bring to his staff meeting Tuesday mornings, since they're having a tough year in there.  I also knew most of them were finishing up their final weeks in the school's Biggest Loser Competition, so I have been looking for healthy muffin recipes.  This one piqued my interest for a few reasons.

First, it's from Kitchen Treaty, my vegetarian blogger extraordinaire who has the One Meal Two Ways category.  Second, it's made with both whole wheat and all-purpose flour, so you get the benefits from the whole wheat without them being dry and dense.  Third, there's no sugar in the recipe.  These muffins are sweetened only by a third cup of honey - and the natural sugars from the bananas.  Lastly, they're spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, so the bananas have some fun things to spice them up with.

I ended up topping some of them with walnuts because I know lots of the transition staff members are nutty (I mean that in every way possible).  I got lots of thank yous and appreciative texts, so I think they went over well at the meeting.  Healthy, lightly sweet, and tasty: what more are you looking for in a banana muffin?

Recipe:

honey-sweetened spiced banana muffins
from Kitchen Treaty
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 medium very ripe bananas
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease 12 standard cup muffin tins or line with liners.

2)  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.

3) In a medium bowl, mash the bananas.  Stir in the butter, honey, and egg.  Mix well.  Add the milk and vanilla and mix until blended.

4) Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix until just incorporated.

5) Divide batter between muffin cups, about 1/3 cup batter each.  Bake until the tops spring when you touch them and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 12 minutes.

6) Muffins keep in an airtight container or zipper bag at room temperature for 3 - 4 days.  They also freeze well!