Banana Muffins

Click to enlarge

Despite their small size, these muffins pack a wallop of a punch in the flavor department.  They melt in your mouth and are incredibly moist.  If you leave the oat fiber out, these would even be gluten free, for those following a GF eating plan.  Omitting that oat fiber shouldn’t impact the texture too much, either.   These are not suitable until you get to the upper fruits rung of the Atkins OWL ladder and are nearing Atkins Pre-Maintenance, as bananas are fairly carby.  I don’t put nuts in these because my husband isn’t fond of nuts in baked goods.  But of course I personally think they would be improved with some chopped pecans or walnuts.  Add some at your discretion, but be sure to add any nuts to the nutritional info below if you decide to add them.  I made up a recipe and a half of this batter and cooked it in an over-long loaf pan not long ago and it baked up nicely as a loaf, too!  Seems like it took about 40-45 minutes to bake completely.  I froze half of it and it tasted very nice after the freezing experience.

INGREDIENTS:

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

¼ c. coconut oil

¼ c. unsalted butter, melted (or use all butter or all coconut oil, if you prefer)

4 large eggs, beaten

16 drops liquid Splenda (I use EZsweetz small bottle)

1½ c. almond flour

¼ c. +2 T. coconut flour

1 tsp. glucomannan powder

2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch sea salt

2 T. oat fiber (omit for gluten free)

1 T. granular erythritol

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  In large mixing bowl, peel and mash the bananas with a fork.  Add eggs and beat well.  Add liquid sweetener and the ½ c. total oil/melted butter/or combination thereof.  Stir well.  Measure out the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients in the order listed above.  Stir the dry ingredients slowly into the wet without overworking the batter.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to be sure all ingredients are blended well.  Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.  Spoon batter into paper liners evenly, about 3/4 full (about 3T. batter).  These muffins will not rise too much, so they should not overflow the cups.  Bake at 350º for about 22-25 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test or feel done to the touch in the center.  Cool a bit before attempting to peel the paper liners off for best results.  Enjoy these scrumptious muffins for breakfast, dessert or with a hot cup of afternoon coffee or tea.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 small muffins, each contains:

218.4 calories

13.4 g  fat

10.4 g  carbs, 3.87 g  fiber, 6.53 g  NET CARBS

6.06 g  protein

110 mg sodium