Jumbo Banana Blueberry Muffins

If I am going to have one muffin for breakfast, it better be a giant one.

I love muffins, and while I usually make muffins in your standard cupcake-sized tin, sometimes I change it up and use these three-in-one tins.  There is something magical about eating a jumbo muffin. When I was younger, my dad used to get huge muffins from my favorite bakery and I would always savor them, eating them from the bottom up and saving the best part (the muffin top) for last.  The larger the muffin, the larger the muffin top.  More of the delicious muffin middle isn't bad either:)

Speaking of muffin tops, you don't have to worry about getting one around your waste line when you eat these.  These muffins are made with hearty whole-grain flours and purely fruit sweetened.  With a touch of coconut oil adding healthy fats and greek yogurt boosting the protein content, this actually is an extremely healthy breakfast in disguise.

These muffins are actually a compromise between my favorite blueberry muffins and Nick's favorite blueberry muffins.  I have been eating this recipe for muffins made with only blueberries almost every morning for breakfast with heaps of almond butter and greek yogurt.  I can't get enough of coconut flour at the moment, and everything tastes better with almond butter!

These are the Blue Raspberry Muffins, without the raspberries, in all their glory!

Nick, on the other hand, is a bread boy.  He likes his wheat, and while he doesn't mind coconut flour baked goods, he rather have a classic muffin texture instead of the cake-like and delicate one coconut flour provides.  These are his favorite muffins I make.  I decided it was time to find a happy medium between our preferences, and came up with a pretty damn good solution.

I used whole wheat pastry flour to give these muffins a hearty wheat texture and some coconut flour to lighten them up.  The coconut flour also provides a hint of sweetness that is especially important because I don't use any conventional sweeteners in these.  Mashed ripe bananas, fresh squeezed orange juice, and lucuma powder provide plenty of sweetness to highlight the juicy blueberries in every bite. The lucuma powder is completely optional, as these muffins would be plenty sweet without it, however I love the maple flavor it adds to the finished muffin.

If you have never baked with coconut flour before, these muffins are a great way to get familiar with the flour.  It can be tricky using only coconut flour to make a recipe if you have never baked with it before.  With a the hint of cinnamon, ginger, and lemon these banana blueberry muffins add a little zip to your mornings.  You might find it hard to only have one of these, no matter how big it is!


Jumbo Banana Blueberry Muffins

Yield: 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular-sized muffins

Dry:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsps lucuma powder (optional)

Wet:
3 eggs
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3 extremely ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 heaping cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a large muffin pan with 6 large tins, or a regular muffin pan with 12 tins.  Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
2.  Beat the wet ingredients together using a hand-held beater or whisk.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until just incorporated.  Fold in the blueberries.
3.  Evenly spoon the mixture into the prepared tins.  Bake at 375 F for 12 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 F and rotate the pan 180 degrees.  Bake for another 30-35 minutes, or until a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.