Healthy Muffins – Chocolate Banana Muffins with Millet Flour Mix

Healthy, wholesome muffins and zero compromise on taste – doesn’t that sound amazing?

Let’s face it – muffins are an obsession for most of us. And on the days you wish to indulge your sweet tooth, or crave comfort food, muffins are the best answer to these needs. However, the whopping calorie count (a muffin usually has anywhere from 200 calories, counting upwards as per flavor) owing to the use of refined flour, boatloads of sugar, and other flavour fillings. Also, store-bought muffins are usually full of empty calories, devoid of any nutrition, which makes them a further bad choice.

Welcome to my world, where I just HAVE to tweak everything tasty to also be wholesome and nutritious! Take a bow, and get set to prepare some yummilicious muffins made with my Healthy Flour Mix (HFM)

In short, my Healthy Flour Mix consists of millets/ sorghum/ buckwheat/ brown rice/ oats in place of refined flour, and add whole wheat flour to complete the mix. If you wish to make your flour mix gluten-free, simply substitute the whole-wheat flour part with rice flour, and arrowroot starch/ cassava starch/tapioca starch/ starch extract.

What difference does the flour make, you ask? Ordinarily muffins are made of refined flour and tons of sugar, which digests quickly, gives you a quick sugar spike and an immediate sugar crash, thus putting you in the way of a rather dangerous sugar craving cycle. Inclusion of slow-digesting and more nutritious millets/ buckwheat/ oats/ sorghum in the place of refined flour keep you full and satiated for a longer time, releasing sugar into the bloodstream at a steady rate, thus literally keeping those unhealthy pounds off your body. Plus, I love the nutty texture imparted by the flour to the muffins.

I also use coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter) in place of butter or vegetable oil. I substitute refined white sugar with palm sugar, which has a lower Glycemic Index and is also full of beneficial minerals and phytonutrients.

These muffins are incredibly versatile – you can play with flavors and textures like crazy! Try my Prune Ginger Oats Muffins or Buckwheat Pumpkin Muffins.

Let’s get going then, here’s how I make healthier muffins with my Healthy Flour Mix:

Healthy Muffins – Chocolate Banana Muffins with Millet Flour Mix

Makes 12-15 muffins

Ingredients

FOR THE HEALTHY FLOUR MIX [500 gms/ 0.5 kilograms/ 1.1 lbs]

(recipe inspired by Affairs of Living)

• 350 gms Mix of Bajra (Sorghum) & Jowar (Pearl Millet)
• 150 gms Whole Wheat Flour

Note: If you are gluten-intolerant or wish to use a gluten-free flour, substitute Whole-wheat Flour with 100gms of Arrowroot Starch + 50gms of Rice Flour

FOR THE MUFFINS

• 300 gms of Healthy Flour Mix
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 3 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 1/2 cup Hershey Unsweetened Cocoa (Can substitute with any other unsweetened dark cocoa powder)
• 120 gms Palm Sugar
• 4 very ripe Bananas, mashed
• ½ cup coconut oil (can use ghee as well)
• 3 eggs

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven at 175° C (nearly 350°F).

Whisk together all the dry ingredients, i.e. flour mix, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and palm sugar in a large bowl.

Combine the wet ingredients, i.e. mashed bananas, milk, coconut oil, vanilla essence, in a separate bowl. Crack the eggs and whisk everything together.

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with wet ingredients, mix everything together while scraping the sides with a spatula.

Coat the muffin tray with cooking spray or line with paper muffin cups.

Spoon the batter into individual cups, filling them to 3/4^th level. Place the tray into the oven immediately. Bake at 180°C for about 30-35 minutes, until they are firm. Insert a tooth pick to test whether done.

Move the muffin tray from the oven and allow to cool for few minutes. Remove the muffins from tray and let them cool on a wire rack.

Devour!

NOTES

• Store the extra millet-sorghum mix in a tightly sealed container for future use.
• Since this recipe utilizes baking soda, the muffin batter has to be taken for baking immediately.
• Store the leftover muffins in the refrigerator for prolonged freshness, and heat before consuming.