Whole wheat muffins with bananas, pear, and cashews are a perfect, healthy way to get your morning started.
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Morning is not exactly the best or easiest time of day around this house.
Have I mentioned this before? I think I’ve mentioned this before. I’m becoming the crazy lady who repeats herself.
My mother and best friend are both chirpy, annoying morning people. I know firsthand what this looks like. But Boyfriend and I? That’s not us.
Luckily for us – and anyone who has to deal with us before noon – the most recent addition to our kitchen is making mornings just a little bit easier around here. I told you earlier this week about our new iCoffee brewer (if you don’t yet know what the iCoffee is, head over to Monday’s post to learn about it). I’m not kidding when I say that having a programmable coffee maker that brews a quality cup of coffee really is a morning blessing. I may not be allowed to have caffeine (the curse of a bad stomach), but just the smell of the coffee brewing in the morning makes getting out of bed a little bit easier. Knowing that he can rely on a perfect cup of coffee every morning – and can avoid having to drink the bitter, often-burnt coffee at work – makes Boyfriend that much more pleasant for early-morning wakeup calls.
Excuse me while I go write a sonnet for our coffee maker.
One thing I should note about the iCoffee is that it sings to you in the morning. Yes, sings. When it starts brewing, it plays a few notes of Mozart, then plays them again when the brewing cycle ends (side note: it is pretty nice to be told when the coffee is finished brewing, although this is a feature you can turn off if you happen to be a music grinch).
A few weekends ago, Boyfriend had some early morning training sessions at work (he is a personal trainer), so, of course, his rustling around to get ready in the morning was already starting to wake me up when I heard the iCoffee singing and the aroma of freshly-brewed coffee wafted over to me.
Even though it was only 7:00 am (a challenging hour on a work day, much less a normal Saturday), I decided to make the most of things and be productive in my kitchen. I pulled out a muffin recipe that I had been eyeing, gathered my ingredients, and got to work, fueled by the mere aroma of coffee.
(Side note two: If the aroma of coffee is enough to wake me up, it is probably a good thing that I don’t actually drink it or else I would be a complete nutcase.)
The result of my early-morning productivity was this batch of muffins. The original recipe called them “Houseguest Breakfast Muffins”, which I rather liked – probably because my parents were coming to visit and I knew I would end up offering these muffins for breakfast and snacks.
As far as muffins go, these are decently healthy; full of whole wheat flour, bananas, diced pear, nuts, and relatively little fat or sugar, these are muffins that you can feel good about eating for breakfast or as a mid-afternoon snack. Make them for guests or just make them for your family – either way, they’re a nice way to get your day started, alongside that ever-necessary cup of coffee.
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour’s Baking Sheet.
Houseguest Breakfast Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup solid coconut oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup diced pear
- 1 small banana diced
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped cashews
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease the wells of a muffin tin or line with muffins liners. Set aside.
- Place cashews on a rimmed baking sheet. Place in the oven for 6-8 minutes while the oven is preheating, until golden and just fragrant. Allow to cool.
- In a large bowl, cream together the coconut oil and the brown sugar. Add in the egg and the vanilla; mix until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in half of the flour mixture to the coconut oil mixture, mixing just until combined. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, and milk. Mix until just combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture, mixing until mostly combined, then fold in the diced pear, diced banana, and toasted cashews.
- Divide batter evenly into the muffin tin. Wells will seem very full. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a rack to cool.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I received an iCoffee by Remington to review but received no other compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
About Stephie
Stephie is the creator of Stephie Cooks, a food blog that focuses on creating memories around the food we share, with family recipes at the site’s heart. Stephie lives in Central Illinois with her husband, daughter, and a menagerie of cats and dogs. When she’s not in the kitchen or at her computer writing, you can usually find her curled up with a book or working on one of her many grandma-esque hobbies. Learn more >
Wow I had no idea there were coffee makers that sing, I think I need to invest in one! I’m definitely not a chirpy morning person, it’s best not to speak to me until at least 9:00 am. However if I had a couple of these muffins offered to me and a singing coffee maker in the background I might be more approachable!