Banana Walnut Quinoa muffins

Go Bananas!

What do you do when you buy a dozen bananas and within two days all of them become ready and ripe? You bake banana walnut quinoa muffins!

How many bananas can one have in a day? Back in my school days, I could easily eat 6 in a day! I guess its the remnant ape gene that was still dominant 🐒.

Fast forward to my tweens, when the easiest and handiest to go breakfast item was a banana. But in the Last couple of years I was plagued by your sudden onset of allergies. No, unfortunately one of the items that would give would give me rashes was the humble and my favourite banana. Oh so sad I was. I stopped eating bananas for awhile. And really missed it. Now in the past few months, I realised that my tolerance to them has again increased and I can eat them in moderation. So nobody could be happier than me.

Healthier Alternatives

This recipe has a special ingredient and that is quinoa flour. Quinoa is a seed which is rich in proteins, fibre, vitamins and minerals. I recently bought a quinoa flour from a trusted brand which has been making my rotis delicious and healthy these days. So I thought why not try it out in these muffins to cut down on the use of all purpose flour. And it turned out to be perfect even if I say so myself. Though hubby dear also said the same with a shiny look in his eyes.

To cut down on the use of butter, which I am very free handed with in my desserts, I have used a new favourite in this recipe. That thing, my friends is….drumroll please……Almond Butter! It is an absolutely wonderful addition in my baking arsenal. Amps up the protein content, brings a wonderful flavour and helps me cut down(a bit 😋) on the butter. Coincidentally Im reading a book called “ When in doubt add butter” by Beth Harbison which is helping me feel that I am not in this battle alone 😃.

I have not use processed sugar in this recipe and used raw unrefined jaggery instead. It adds a warm depth of flavour to this recipe. Pre roasting the walnuts before adding to the batter is an important step which should not be skipped as it helps to keep the nuts crunchy even after baking. Salt is one of my sure shot ingredients which helps to balance out the overall sweetness of my desserts.

That Baking smell!

When these muffins were baking in the oven , the house was filled with a deliciously sweet and nutty heady aroma professing to the fact that the output was going to be very yummy!
So after the 21 minutes wait, the golden puffs of heaven a.k.a banana walnut quinoa muffins studded with crunchy walnuts and melty gooey dark chocolate chunks were ready to be devoured!

Ingredients for Banana Walnut Quinoa muffins

2 over ripe bananas mashed
1cup All purpose flour/ maida
1 cup Quinoa flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Jaggery 2 tbsp
Milk 1 cup
Almond Butter 2 tbsp
Butter ¾ cup melted
Roasted Walnuts 6 to 7 broken into pieces
Dark Chocolate chunks ½ cup
Pink salt 3/4tsp
1cup = 100gm

Method

•All the ingredients should be at room temperature before baking.

• In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a balloon whisk or a hand held electrical whisk.

• Add in the almond butter and mix.

• Then add the molten butter. And mix it well.

• In a separate bowl, dissolve the jaggery in 1 Cup of milk and pour it into the banana mix.

• Now sift in the all purpose flour the quinoa flour and the baking powder.

• Mix gently using a spatula. Use the cut and fold method.

• Add the salt, the roast walnuts and the chopped chocolate chunks and mix well.

• Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

• Line a muffin tray with paper muffin liners. Spoon in the batter and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

• Your muffins are ready when a toothpick inserted into the middle of 1 comes out clean.

• This recipe makes around 8 medium sized muffins.

P.S

I try to make my recipes eggless, again due to that damned allergy which make my life as a passiinate baker quite hellish! But if you want to add eggs, then please feel free and add in 2 eggs. You will have to reduce the quantity of milk you are using accordingly then. Also banana puree acts as a natural egg replacement so you may use 1 instead of 2, though I have not tested out the recipe with eggs myself.
One important tip is the riper and blacker the bananas the better is the overall flavour profile.

So go ahead and let those bananas ripen and just pop them into the fridge before you are ready to put on your baking mitts and bake up a storm.

Quick Tip : To roast walnuts without a hassle, just preheat your oven to 180 and pop in the nuts for around 6 to 8 minutes. Tada! Roasted walnuts are ready to add crunch to your recipes.

You can try out a few more of my muffin recipes here