Banana Walnut Muffins
Why I Love This Recipe
This is the recipe for the muffin pictured in my profile. I got the recipe for these muffins from the Vegetarian Times magazine. This month there are so many recipes to try. I modified it a bit. The recipe was intended to make a loaf of banana bread, but since I am trying to count calories I made muffins. I figured it would be easier to calculate that way. So, since the muffins were much smaller than the loaf it only took about 40 minutes for them to be done. They are really good. I have never heard of Xanthan Gum, so experimented with a new ingredient. I finally found Xanthan Gum at the Whole Foods Market. Had to have the clerk come and help me find it because I didn't know what I was looking for. It is a powder. Xanthan gum is a natural gum polysaccharide used as a food additive and rheology modifier. It is produced by a biotechnological process involving fermentation of glucose or sucrose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. Xanthan gum is similar to corn starch and has a thickening property. It only takes a very small amount for the gum to work.
I didn't have any agave nectar so I used regular granulated sugar also used whole wheat flour instead of oat.
Ingredients You'll Need
1 cup all-purpose white flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1/3 cup walnuts, divided
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup plain soymilk
1/4 cup canola oil
3 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 8x4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine flours, all but 2 Tbs. walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, xanthan gum and salt in a bowl.
Whisk bananas, agave nectar, soymilk, oil and vanilla until smooth in separate bowl. Fold in dry ingredients.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining 2 Tbs. walnuts over loaf. Bake 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 20 minutes, then unmold and cool completely before slicing.