Breakfast @ 226 - Banana Crunch Muffins

I had dinner ready at the Senior Citizen Hour of 4:10 p.m. yesterday.  There were a few reasons for this, none of them planned.  I knew Jason was going to be working into the night so I was preparing myself to be a One Man Band by getting all my dinner ducks in a row before I picked Reed up from school.  You know, mise en place, as they say.  

When we arrived home, I was barraged with 1,700 only slightly whiney requests for food.  The phrase , "May I please have..." was on repeat, not to mention it's less formal and more demanding cousin, "Mama, make me..."  The scene was really, very charming.  Every time the tip of my toe crossed the threshold of leaving the kitchen (to say, go do some laundry or get the mail) there was another child.  Another child, asking for more food.  At one point I was slicing an apple with one hand and dishing out snap peas with the other.  I only survived one hour before...

I started making dinner.  I know it's a drastic decision to pour a little olive oil in a pan at 3:45 in the afternoon.  But, if I hadn't done that, I would have done something worse.  Like, maybe...run away to a deserted island where no one even snacks, or eats at all.

The only backlash of this wild decision was that dinner (usually the main time-consuming event of the evening) was over at the ripe hour of 4:30.  Plates in the sink and faces wiped: Done.  Before the begging for dessert or complaints of boredom even began, I announced the post-dinner project.  "We're making muffins!"  Of course, I announced this before checking the pantry to see if we had anything with which to make a decent muffin.  Small Detail.  The kids were thrilled because our evening rituals usually include something less involved like taking a walk or reading books.  Making muffins in the evening time was a major deal.

Get your hand out of the frame, dude!

Though, in the wake of our evening chaos, I quite honestly have no idea what I made for dinner.  I do know I made some bomb-ass muffins.  And for a moment, everyone was content.  Here they are.

Banana Crunch Muffins - which should really be called Survival Muffins are adapted from these

3 super ripe bananas

1 large egg

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

a hearty pinch of cloves

1 1/2 cup your choice of flour (I used oat bran, white whole wheat and spelt, 1/4 cup of each and I love how they turned out)

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 tablespoon chia seed

1/4 cup uncooked millet

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan or line a muffin pan.

Whip your bananas and egg together in an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk* attachment until light and pale yellow.  This can also be done with a hand mixer.  Add the oil and fully incorporate.  Add the sugar, maple syrup and vanilla and whip until uniform.  

Sprinkle the baking soda, salt and spices over the batter and mix.  

Lastly, add your flours, flax, chia and millet and with the mixer on low, mix until just incorporated.

Pour into prepared loaf pan or a lined muffin pan.  Bake loaf for 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  The muffins will bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

These stay good for a while (5 days), and really get a little better each day!  Though we won't really get to find out, we only have four left.

*The paddle attachment would also work.  But, the whisk just made the batter light and creamy, and broke up the bananas.

So thrilled he gets to eat the prop.