Banana Wheat Germ Muffins
This recipe is going to blow your mind (and your taste buds)! I’ve been making banana bread for years, but I must admit my original recipe contained pretty significant quantities of butter and sugar. As you know, those days are long gone for me. Still, I crave banana bread and I wanted to make a much more healthy version — minus the sugar, of course — to see how my family would like it. I don’t mean to brag, but my original banana bread recipe was pretty fantastic, so I had to keep testing and experimenting to try and match the original’s flavor and texture. I also decided to use the new recipe to make muffins, as portion control is easier and little muffins are the perfect size for little hands.
Normally, I love cooking with wheat germ because it contains 23 nutrients (like potassium and riboflavin) and has more nutrients per ounce than any other grain or vegetable. It also has a high concentration of complex carbohydrates and protein which makes it the perfect ingredient for getting your day started right. It turned out to be a great addition. It adds great taste and makes the muffins super healthy.
I was shocked at how light and sweet the new recipe turned out. When you try it, remember that the real key is using super ripe bananas. Our grocery puts the brown, spotty ones for on sale several times a week, so I always stock up on them for recipes just like this!
Banana Wheat Germ Muffins
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Wheat Germ
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
3 Medium Very Ripe Bananas, mashed, plus 1 banana sliced approx. 3/4 inch thick for topping
1/2 Cup Agave or Honey
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 Large Egg
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl.
3. In a standing mixer combine the 3 bananas, agave, oil, vanilla and egg. Beat until combined and bananas are mashed.
4. Gently mix in the dry ingredients in 3 stages until just combined. Do not over-mix.
5. Grease or line muffin cups or mini loaf pans and fill 3/4 full with the mixture.
6. Place the slices of banana on top of each filled muffin cup or decoratively over the loaf pan.
7. Bake 15 minutes for mini muffin cups, 20 for regular muffin cups or 25 minutes for mini loaf pans or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool and serve.
We used these to make this recipe:
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My granddaughter loved these muffins and I was wondering if other fruits could be substituted.(Berries or pineapple?) If so how much of each fruit would I need? Thank you.
Absolutely easy and yummy!
Loved the recipe- My 3 y/o loved helping me put it all together- and sharing the finished product with his baby brother (16mos)
I highly recommend adding blueberries to this recipe. It jmakes the muffins so delicious! And even more healthful.
I made these with 2 bananas and about 3 oz of blueberries- it is so good! I want to eat the entire batch! They are perfect for rushed mornings for a quick breakfast! And even my junk-food-loving husband thought they were good!
Im so going to bake a batch real soon, for my son’s class
Do you use toasted or raw wheat germ?
I use have used raw and i have used toasted but i prefer toasted
Awesome! I’m now in love with wheat germ. I added walnuts and a few chocolate chips.
Has anyone done these without the banana topping? Just wondering if they’re just as yummy that way.
I’m wondering the same thing because I only have 3 bananas. I’m wondering if it’s better to scale down the recipe or just skip the topping.
you can skip the topping
I would actually recommend NOT using the banana slice topping. These are awesome muffins, but unless you serve them immediately, the banana slice on top becomes a very yucky mushy grey blob the next day.
Can you freeze these?
Yes you can
Love these. I make something similar but i use flax seeds —the mixture of flax and wheatgerm would be good. A double whammy of omegas and vitamin E. I agree with Amy blueberries would be yummy too.
I read that agave is actually worse for you than High Fructose Corn Syrup? Any thoughts about this.
It’s on mercola.com
Its just an option, you can use honey instead
I just made these without the banana on top and added a little nutmeg. They are SOOO good. Thank you!
Wow, these are delicious! I am a bit believer in wheat germ and am impressed that the recipe called for so much of it. Great recipe, and great recipes on your site. Thank you!
wondering if you use wholegrain or regular flour? what do you use on most recipes?
I use whole wheat and regular in more of my recipes. This recipe contains regular. You need it so it can be light and airy since it has wheat germ in it.
My twins (13 months) love these, they ate 3 each as soon as they were cool enough, they could hardly wait the smell was driving them crazy!
I am on the look out for organic wheat germ but can’t seem to find it locally. I tried TJ’s, WF, Sprouts, Henrys…but no one carries it. Any suggestions as to if/where it is sold?
you can find it at mothers market.
These just came out of the oven and they rock! Another winner, C. I can’t believe how sweet and delicious they are with just 1/2 cup of honey and no butter!
I am certain relinquishing this IKEA cabinet completely free and i’m only going to be buying a brand-new case soon. If you happen to would use it and may even presume within 2-3 days, shoot me a contact and I’ll email you.
WOW! These are soooo amazing!!! I added some raisins in there too and they really were astounding. Very moist, sweet and delicious! Can’t wait to take these to a playdate.
The muffins have a lovely spongy consistency but unfortunately mine turned out much too salty! : ( Will omit the salt next time
So interesting, how much salt did you put in them and what kind did you use? I have made this recipe a dozen times.
YUMMMM!! We just made these this morning..huge hit and yum! Thanks for all the great ideas!
I made these muffins today and I love to texture, but mine turned out too salty.
I used 1 tsp like the recipe called for and 1/2 cup honey instead of agave. I wonder if using agave would make a difference? I’ll try again using less salt!
I get excited about food that will blow my mind:D Making them tonight for my 16 month old and I:)
Made these the other day and my lil’ munch (who is NOT a banana fan) ate 2! Great recipe because it makes one pan and is perfect for lil ones! (Oh, I used agave(for the first time) and was SUPER impressed with the results! Also used 2/3 c. regular flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat, no affect on texture!
YUM!!! I just made them and they are delicious. Great snack in afternoon w coffee for me, and healthy snack for the rest of the family! Thanks
Next time may substitute some wheat flour just for giggles.
Could I add organic oats, or would it mess up the texture?
Just made these and added Butternut squash (I have a TON of it right now) instead of the third banana and 1.5 oz wild blueberries … YUMMY! I did find I needed to set the oven at 325 for 13 minutes, but I think my oven runs hot. The first batch came out a little hard and crusty.
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Made this in a bread loaf pan and it was delicious – my 14 month old ate almost half the loaf for breakfast! Thank you for such a healthy recipe to the butter/sugar-filled alternatives!
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A little late, but I made this using applesauce (unsweetened) instead of oil, and half wheat flour and half white flour.
So delicious!! My little man loved it even more than the normal, butter-laden muffins that I usually make! (all the exclamation points are to show just how smitten I am with this recipe). These freeze GREAT. I doubled the recipe and baked it, then froze it so that I could re-heat it for breakfast whenever I needed. He asked for these muffins even more than sugary cereals or pre-packaged goods!
Thanks for the recipe (:
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