You probably all know by now that I have an undisputable love for muffins. Dense, heavy, chewy muffins. LOVE ‘EM! So I’m always looking for new healthy muffin recipes, and those aren’t easy to come accross, so I often end up creating them by adapting recipes that I already have…

When I saw those beautiful cake bars on Leanne’s site, my mind just immediately started drifting… and it wasn’t long before that delightful piece of cake I was looking at started to take the shape of a muffin in my mind. Sure, I could have made the actual cake bars and they would’ve tasted just the same. But they would NOT have been muffins. I love a baked good that is intended as an individual serving.

Mini loaves, mini cakes or muffins… they’re all equally great.

There’s just something about them that I can’t resist.

Plus, whole cakes and loaves have one major flaw. It’s way too easy to cut out just a little piece, you know, to have just that one tiny little bite. Or take that very thin slice out of a banana bread… Yeah, I tend to do that… and then I hate myself for doing it.

Individually baked goods make it impossible to have that little ‘cheat’ bite. You either have the whole thing, or you don’t.

And these muffins, right here, are so good that I know I would’ve invariably gone for the ‘why-don’t-you-cut-a-little-piece-off-it-won’t-even-show’ trick once or twice… Their texture is just brilliant: they have this little bit of crunchiness to them that is quite unusual but extremely pleasing.

They also make for an awesome afternoon snack, served with a handulf of fresh blueberries and a tablespoon of all natural almond butter.

Thank you, Leanne, for another superb recipe! 🙂

BLUEBERRY BANANA BUCKWHEAT MUFFINS
Slightly adapted from Healthful Pursuit’ Blueberry Banana Cake Bars

INGREDIENTS
(yelds 12 muffins)

  • 3/4 cup spelt flour
  • 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/4 cup buckwheat groats
  • 1/4 cup black chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup hemp seeds
  • 2 tbsp ground flax seed
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 6 egg whites
  • 120g vanilla whey protein powder
  • 3 bananas, mashed
  • 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts + more for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat your oven to 375F and line your muffin pan with parchment paper cups or coat with cooking spray
  2. In a large bowl combine flours, buckwheat groats, chia, hemp, ground flax, cinnamon, baking powder, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, mashed banana, protein powder, and vanilla. Once incorporated, pour into dry ingredients. Stir until combined before adding in blueberries and walnuts.
  4. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle walnuts over top, if desired
  5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan and allowing to cool on a wire rack for an additional 10-15minutes.