Nutty Coconut Banana Bread Muffins

These muffins are for someone special.

They’re slightly sweet, slightly nutty, and completely comforting.

I feel bad that their intended recipient won’t ever get to enjoy them, because the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse, so it’s now impossible to deliver them. But, it’s the thought that counts, right?

If you love homey banana bread, these are for you! I’ve always loved my grandma’s banana bread (as I’ve said maybe a hundred times on this blog), but banana bread can typically be an unassuming hiding place for excessive amounts of butter an sugar. I’ve kept the sugar levels low (using Stevia and coconut sugar) and nixed the butter for Greek yogurt and coconut oil. So, nothing but comforting thoughts should be on your mind as you’re enjoying these.

Nutty Coconut Banana Bread Muffins
(makes 1 dozen muffins)

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup oat flour

1/3 cup almond flour (almond meal)

1 tsp. baking soda

3 medium over-ripe bananas, mashed

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

¼ cup plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

½ cup granulated Stevia

¼ cup coconut sugar (or raw sugar or more Stevia)

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Topping:

¼ cup old fashioned oats

¼ cup walnuts, chopped

2 Tbs. unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp. coconut sugar

2 Tbs. coconut oil, melted

~Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

~In a large bowl, combine all of the flours and baking soda. Stir to combine. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the mashed bananas, vanilla, eggs, yogurt, oil, Stevia, and coconut sugar. Fold and stir all of the ingredients together. As they just become mixed, add the walnuts and coconut, fold to combine.

~Scoop the batter into your muffin liners (~2/3 full).

~Make the crumble topping: In a small bowl, mix the ingredients together.

~Spoon the crumble evenly over the 12 muffins; press down the crumble slightly so it sticks to the batter.

~Bake for 23-25 min,  checking the muffins with a test stick to make sure they’re done (your test stick should come out clean). Let the muffins cool on a wire rack. Serve the muffins warm with coffee or your favorite comforting drink. Enjoy!

Strike up a conversation: Ok, so I have completely transformed traditional banana bread, but I’m curious, what do you think of when you think “banana bread”? Is someone’s particular version burned in your brain, or is it always different for you?