Old Reliable

For the first recipe posted to this blog, I will lean on the old reliable recipe for mini banana apple bran muffins from one of the cookbooks I turn to quite often, The Petit Appetit Cookbook, by Lisa Barnes.


If you are looking for a healthy, yummy muffin recipe for your child (or yourself!), I highly recommend this recipe. I have made these several times, and Elsa is quite the fan of them, though I have to be careful not to over serve them, as she does become bored after awhile. As a word of warning, I realized the second time I made these that I actually made them incorrectly the first go around by mashing all three bananas and mixing them into the batter rather than mashing just one and slicing the others to place atop the batter once poured into the muffin cups. Regardless, they were still tasty, and I usually forgo the slice on top now, as Elsa usually won't eat it anyway. I also make these in large batches and freeze them, simply defrosting them by throwing them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so prior to serving. You can make them in mini or regular size, and they make for a fantastic, healthy snack or breakfast item -- or even served as a side to a lunch or dinner meal.

Mini Banana Apple Bran Muffins

Makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oat bran

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup applesauce

3 medium bananas, 1 mashed (about 1/2 cup) and 2 sliced

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (the recipe calls for light, but I only had dark on hand, and they turned out fine)

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 24 mini muffin cups or 12 regular muffin cups.

Combine flour, bran, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Melt butter and combine with applesauce, mashed banana, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture and stir until just blended. The batter will be lumpy and very moist.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling two-thirds full. Place banana slice on top of each muffin. Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Cool muffins on a wire rack for five minutes before removing from pan.