This recipe for Banana Muffins came from a very old cookbook I once found in my grandmother's house. But I changed it because frankly, banana muffins with margarine and a ton of sugar kind of defeat the purpose of these being fruit-based. So I combined that recipe with everything I know about applesauce and whole wheat flour and was quite surprised when these turned out to be more than edible. They are actually quite good. My boys are not home yet from the Celebrate Israel Parade that took place today in the city and so they have not yet given their thumbs up or down but the girls seem to be enjoying them, evidenced by the huge mess on their faces.
Here's the recipe:
2 very ripe bananas, cut up in chunks
2 eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup regular flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350. Place cupcake liners in the muffin tin or use cooking spray. Add the first six ingredients into the mixing bowl of a standing mixer. Mix on low until the bananas are smooth and the rest of the ingredients are incorporated. Add in the dry ingredients, except for the cranberries. Mix just until combined. Add the cranberries and stir in by hand.
Divide the batter among sixteen muffin tins. You will need more than one muffine tin. Bake for 18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan and store in an airtight container, or like everything else we like to bake, these freeze well in a freezer bag. I usually just take a frozen anything out of the freezer at night when I make lunches and stick it frozen into the lunchboxes. By the time snacktime rolls around the next day, all is defrosted and tasting fresh.