These healthy banana muffins are so sweet and moist. You won’t believe that they are sweetened only with dates and bananas. And you won’t miss refined sugar in this one. Start your morning tasty and wholesome! Traditional method (without food processor) in recipe notes.
Take walnuts in a food processor and pulse into large pieces. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pulse. Then add oats, and pulse just to combine. The oats should remain whole and walnuts as pieces. Transfer dry mix to a bowl.
In the same food processor, take dates with milk and process into a smooth paste. Add oil and pulse. Then add egg, vanilla and pulse, just to incorporate. Finally add chopped banana and pulse few times until smooth.
Then add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and pulse just to moisten, making sure the oats remain whole and walnuts as pieces. Stir in chocolate chips if using. Make a thick batter that forms a mound with a scoop (see note for tip).
Prepare a muffin pan, by applying butter in the wells, sprinkle flour all over and dust off excess. Or line with paper muffin liners.
Spoon the batter almost full into the prepared muffin cups. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake until a cake tester inserted comes out clean and the muffin tops are golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and let cool.
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Notes
Dates:
Choose soft and plump medjool dates. Use more dates for sweeter muffins.
If dates are too dry, then place in saucepan, add small amount of water (increase as needed), heat at medium high and when bubbles appear, lower the heat and simmer. Cook it until soft, turn off the heat and allow to cool.
Ready-Made Date Paste: Available at middle eastern stores or online. Be sure to look for any pits and remove. Use 300 grams (about 10 ounces) for this recipe. The date paste can be sticky, so work with it using food prep gloves or oiled palms.
Oil: Since we don’t use sugar, oil is necessary for optimal moistness. You can try lowering it to ½ cup but the muffins will be less moist.
Batter: Adjust the thickness of batter with flour if needed.
Make Ahead: Combine dry ingredients and have them ready. Make the date paste ahead.
Storage: These are best for 1 to 2 days at room temperature. They can be frozen as well.
Traditional Method:Process dates with milk into a paste. Using a fork, mash bananas very well and stir it in. Add oil, egg, vanilla and whisk into a smooth mixture. In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients, to make a thick batter that forms a mound, and with no lumps. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan and bake.
Nutrition Facts: Without walnuts and chocolate chips - 249 calories, 32 g carbs, 3 g protein, 13 g fat, 3 g fiber, 14 g sugar.
For more information on ingredients and variations (vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free nut-free and other sweeteners) scroll up the page to the blog post.