Whole Wheat Banana Bran Muffins

The Winter Germs have taken my daughter hostage for the 739th time since November and we are all more than a little bummed about it. On top of a very runny nose, a hacking cough, incessant sneezing and the voice of a middle-aged man, my poor moneky has had little to no appetite anything beyond Gatorade and crackers for 2 days. Thankfully, her Nana (my mom) has been around to help snuggle away the sniffles too. However, we still haven't been able to coerce her into eating much. She's a sad little state of affairs.

This morning, in the hopes of encouraging a little nourishment into her body (and in an effort to use up 3 sad, overripe bananas) I decided to bake some banana muffins, also known as "cupcakes" in this house. As always, my goal was to create something delicious AND healthy. After poring over a variety of whole wheat and banana bran recipes, I decided to combine the two and create these muffins, which have whole wheat and bran, no processed sugar and a touch of molasses (one of my favorite "secret ingredients" for hearty muffins.)

The whole experience brightened all of our spirits. My daughter was torn away from her beloved Sesame Street long enough to help stir the batter and we all enjoyed a house filled with the warm scent of baking bananas. It was just what we needed on this uncharacteristically foggy, cool, germy morning.

These muffins are not only healthy and tasty but also surprisingly light. If you can avoid it, try not to use regular whole wheat flour (in lieu of WW pastry flour) since they might turn out a little denser.

INGREDIENTS:
Yield: 18 muffins
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 T molasses
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
3 med mashed bananas (1.5 cups)
1 cup bran flakes, lightly crushed
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup hot water
1 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS:
-Line muffin tin with 18 baking cups.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for convection oven).
-Prepare muffin tin by
-In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, molasses and vanilla. Add eggs, bananas and salt. Mix well. Stir in bran flakes.
-In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon.
-Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
-Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then gently stir into batter.
-Divide mixture evenly into 18 muffin cups, filling each cup to about 3/4 full.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean.
-Enjoy warm or at room temp. with cream cheese or butter.