Mambo Sprouts

Whole Grain Banana Maple Muffins

Recipe submitted by Stephanie S. of Sacramento, CA, for the Mambolicious Recipe Contest 2009.

Ingredients:

Dry:

• 1 cup quinoa, ground
• 3/4 cup golden flax, ground
• 1 cup oat bran
• 3/4 cup unbleached flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, rapadura or similar
• 5 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Wet:

• 2 medium bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg, whole
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 3/4 cup milk of your choice
• 1 cup Brown Cow maple yogurt
• 3 Tbsp. oil or butter
• Real maple syrup, to pour on top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 385° F. Spray muffin pan well (1 dozen muffins) with oil using a Misto sprayer (do not use paper liners) or lightly butter the pan, plus 2-3 glass ramekin bowls for extra batter.
2. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. (this can be done ahead of time).
3. In a smaller bowl first mash the bananas until smooth. Beat the eggs and add. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and stir with a fork or whisk until creamy.
4. Pour wet into dry and mix with a wooden spoon. The batter should be pretty firm. If too dry, add some more milk.
5. Scoop batter into muffin pan so that the batter is slightly below the top. Make a small well on the top of each muffin batter with your finger and drizzle maple syrup into the well. (about 1 tsp. each).
6. This recipe always makes a few extra muffins so pour the excess batter into the greased glass ramekins.
7. Place muffins in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove muffins from pan when cooled down. Use a spoon if needed to loosen.