I love baking with banana’s. Banana muffins are delicious on their own. Today I thought I would take a spin off of the traditional banana muffin. I know often times recipes call for chocolate chips; however, not today. These muffins are moist, sweet, and spicy and not intended for little ones. These muffins will sure wake you up and get you going for the day. The ginger really comes on strong so if you do not like ginger they are not for you.

I adapted these muffins to incorporate greek yogurt to add moisture and protein. I only used whole wheat pastry flour which allows them to rise better than traditional whole wheat flour (so make sure not to interchange the two). I added flaxseed to add some omega 3 fatty acids. The ginger is a magical ingredient and research shows this spice can help with an upset stomach and improve digestion.

 

Ingredients for the muffin:

3/4 cup of Plain Fat Free Greek Yogurt

2 1/2 cups of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 Tsp ginger ground

1 Tsp ground vietnamese cinnamon

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of finely chopped candied ginger

2 very ripe bananas (brown); mashed

2/3 cup raw sugar or brown sugar if you don’t have raw

4 tb of ground flaxseed

 

Ingredients for the topping:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger (very important to finely chop)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tb canola oil

1/2 tsp ground vietnamese cinnamon

 

This recipe will yield 12 standard muffins and 12 mini muffins

Predirections:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard baking muffin tins with muffin liners and spray generously with canola oil cooking spray. Set aside.

 

Directions for the muffins:

1. In a large bowl, mix with whisk greek yogurt, banana, flaxseed, vanilla and raw sugar. Add in egg and mix to combine. Set aside
2. In a medium bowl mix together, flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet greek yogurt mixture by folding the dry ingredients into the mix. Please make sure not to over mix muffins (you will create a tunnel effect with pointy muffins aka not very pretty).
3. Lastly fold in the candied ginger. Once again caution against over mixing.
4. By using a number 16 scoop portion out 12 standard muffins. Set aside.
5. By using a size 60 scoop portion out 12 mini muffins. Set aside.

Directions for the streusel topping:

1. In a small bowl mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, candied ginger and canola oil.
2. Add about 1-1/2 TB to each muffin with the standard size and about 1/2 -1 TB to the minis.
3. Bake the standard muffins for 20-23 minutes at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean. Bake the minis for 9-10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the muffin from the tins and allow to cool on wire rack.