These Cranberry Banana Whole Grain Muffins are bursting with fresh cranberries and rich in whole grain goodness making them a yummy snack for the whole family.
Cranberry Banana Whole Grain Muffins
I have to be honest, baking is not really my thing. My mom is a gourmet cook. Every night she prepared dinner from scratch, following some complicated recipe. She was not, however, a baker. In fact, the only thing I ever remember baking with her is banana bread, and believe me, it was the kind that left a greasy residue on your hands. Not exactly waistline friendly if you know what I mean.
This month’s Recipe Redux theme is “Trimming the Table” and we were challenged to create a healthy holiday dessert we will be sharing with family and friends this season. After a recent cranberry bog tour, I’ve become obsessed with fresh cranberries and couldn’t wait to bake them into some muffins.
My kids are not pie people, and really don’t go for the typical fall flavors of pumpkins and squashes. It hurts my soul, and I’ll keep encouraging them to adopt my favorite fall foodie loves. In the meantime, they love muffins so my Cranberry Banana Whole Grain Muffins were born.
It’s all about the flour.
I always bake with white whole wheat flour because it contains all the nutrition of a whole grain without the bitterness found in traditional whole wheat flour. It turns out that there are two types of wheat; red and white. Typically, we consume the red version which naturally contains pigmentation that gives a slightly bitter or astringent flavor.
Red wheat is more readily available and is commonly processed to become what we know to be all-purpose white flour. The white whole grain wheat lacks the red pigment, thus yielding a product lighter in both color and flavor, yet the nutrient content is basically the same. It is still a whole grain, but when used for baking, the end product resembles one made with traditional refined flour.
That’s a huge win for creating a nutritious baked good with the taste and texture of refined flour. Don’t stop at baked goods, use the white whole wheat flour for pancakes, waffles, cookies or anywhere else you would use all-purpose flour. If you want to start slow, try subbing 1/2 of the regular flour for the white whole wheat variety.
Try baking with allulose, monk fruit, erythritol or stevia.
In this recipe, I chose monk fruit as a low-calorie sweetener and it worked really well. You can also use allulose, erythritol or stevia. All are considered “natural” sweeteners with very little to no calories or added sugar.
They may have different textures and flavors though any will work here. It all comes down to personal preference, accessibility and cost. Make sure to look for a product that measures 1:1 with sugar for baking, otherwise, a little math will be required to make sure the proportions are correct.
I can’t wait to check out all of the other healthier holiday desserts by my fellow recipe reduxers- give them some love below and let me know what you love to bake!!
These #noaddedsugar Cranberry Banana Muffins are bursting w/ fresh cranberries & whole grain goodness http://wp.me/p4LsrV-EZ Share on X
Cranberry Banana Whole Grain Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 medium bananas 12 ounces, mashed
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons extra light flavored olive oil or canola oil or avocado oil
- 2 Tablespoons plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup granulated allulose, monk fruit, erythritol or stevia cup for cup measure
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mash bananas and set aside.
- Beat egg in a large mixing bowl.
- Add vanilla, oil, Greek yogurt, sweetener of choice, and salt and mix well.
- Add bananas and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, stirring to combine, avoiding over mixing.
- Fold in cranberries.
- Add liners to 12 muffin tins or grease them with cooking spray.
- Fill muffin tins with batter and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
Nutrition
Cranberry Banana Whole Grain Muffins Label
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These look so good. I love all things cranberry, but have never tried monk fruit! I need to try it STAT!
Let me know if you try it, Tara!
These look delicious Lauren! I love all things cranberry! And so festive!
Thanks, Sara!!
These look really tasty and I love the combination of banana and cranberries! Delish-
I can’t tell you how good these are!!!!! I’ve made them over and over again. My friend who is diabetic requests them. The tangy flavor from the fresh cranberries mixed with the sweetness from the bananas is the magic here.
Hi Lauren, is white whole wheat flour the same as whole wheat pastry flour? I’ve not found white whole wheat flour.
Also, if I use Stevia, I will use 1/2 cup, correct? Sorry I got confused with the “cup for cup measure” note.
Thank you!
Whole wheat pastry flour should would as well, it may have a slightly more bitter flavor that the white whole wheat due to the tannins in the whole wheat. Most stores have white whole wheat flour- Trader Joe’s and most supermarkets. Cup for cup measure means that it is equal in sweetness to sugar. Some stevia like the Truvia spoonable blend is not 1:1, meaning it’s sweeter and you need to use less. Just look for the 1:1 on the package. Good luck!