Weetabix in a muffin!!!! That's my secret ingredient for delicious wholewheat banana nut muffins.
A little taste of Ireland and England, crumbled into the baking mix adds extra whole grains and fiber.
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American Muffins
Muffins were a new concept for me when I first moved to America over twenty years ago. Sweet breakfast treats were not on the menu in my Irish childhood years.
In the time I have lived in the United States I have grown to love muffins. Using wholewheat flour and weetabix makes these special treats just a little less indulgent.
Ingredients for Banana Nut Whole Wheat Muffins
Here you’ll find a quick list of what you’ll need for this recipe. Check out the printable recipe at the bottom of this post for US and Metric equivalent versions of the recipe. There you can choose the measurement system that works best for you.
- wholewheat flour
- all-purpose flour
- wheat germ
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- sugar
- crushed Weetabix (2 biscuits)
- chopped walnuts
- shredded coconut
- eggs
- milk
- vanilla extract
- melted butter
- mashed bananas
- crushed banana chips (to decorate top of muffins)
Directions for Banana Nut Whole Wheat Muffins
Here you’ll find step-by-step photographic instructions to help you recreate this recipe successfully. There are plenty of tips included along the way.
To get started preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten to turn the oven on before I start baking. Then I try to put my bread or muffins into a cold oven.
It's a disaster when using baking soda, since the chemical reaction gets started once the wet ingredients meet the dry. Everything goes flat waiting for a warm oven. Glad to get that little confession off my chest. Luckily my husband eats my cooking disasters and isn't at all fussy.
Line the muffin tray with paper liners too before you get started.
To make the muffins add the wheat germ to the whole wheat flour in a large mixing bowl.
Sift the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl.
You probably don't need to sift the flour, but I do it all the time. I can still hear my home economics teacher from Ireland warning:
"Always sieve white flour, girls."
So sifting white flour is a habit of mine.
Toss the sugar in with the flour.
Next come the weetabix. Here is a picture of two wholewheat biscuits before crumbling. I just use my fingers to break them up into little pieces.
If you like you can put them in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. I find my fingers do just fine.
Add the weetabix crumbles to the flour mixture.
Next come the walnuts.
Then the dessicated coconut. Mix up all the dry ingredients.
In another bowl lightly beat the eggs and add the milk.
Then comes the vanilla extract.
Melted butter is poured in next. Make sure the butter is not too hot or your eggs will curdle.
Add a little bit first and mix to let the eggs adjust to the slightly increased temperature, before drowning them in butter.
Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the liquids in. Mix well together.
Mash the bananas. I make this recipe whenever I have overripe bananas. My kids love bananas.
Sometimes I have to buy bananas everyday and sometimes they sit for a day or two and go a little brown. My kids won't touch them if they see any banana freckles.
Banana bread and these muffins help me use up those speckled bananas, without having to turn into a monkey myself and eat all the extra bananas. I hate waste!!!!
Mix the bananas into the muffin mix. It should look like this.
Scoop the mixture into the prepared muffin tray. I love to use my ice cream scoop for this job.
I find I get exactly 24 equal muffins with this nifty little tool.
I like to decorate the top of my muffins with crushed banana chips.
I also like to use some more crushed weetabix as decoration. Usually I do 12 of each kind.
Bake them in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes.
When cooked a kinfe inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Cool a little before serving. I love to eat my muffins with a lovely big glass of cold milk.
I hope you enjoy my Irish American fusion muffin recipe.
Recipe Card for Banana Wholewheat Muffins
Here's the printable recipe card.
Banana Nut Wholewheat Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups wholewheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup wheat germ
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup weetabix 2 biscuits curshed
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cu shredded coconut
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces butter melted
- 3 bananas mashed - use ripe fruit
- ½ cup dried banana chips crushed to decorate top of muffins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
- Mix the wholewheat flour, all-purpose flour, wheatgerm, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add the crumbled weetabix, chopped walnuts, and coconut to the flour and mix together.
- In another bowl lightly beat the eggs. Add the milk, vanilla essence and melted butter. Whisk together.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mix and add the liquid ingredients. Mix together.
- Fold in the mashed bananas.
- Use a large spoon or ice cream scoop to fill the prepared muffin tray. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with crushed banana chips.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. The muffins will be golden brown when ready.Cool on a wire tray before serving.
Nutrition Information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients used.
Here are some other muffins and breads you might enjoy.
Blueberry Cinnamon Toast Crunch Muffins
Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Reader Recipe – Chunky Applesauce Muffins
Pumpkin Beetroot Soda Bread A Healthy Twist On An Irish Favorite
Bread Machine Hot Cross Buns For Easter
Thanks for following my recipes and ramblings.
Slán agus beannacht,
(Goodbye and blessings)
Mairéad -Irish American Mom
Pronunciation - slawn ah-gus ban-ock-th
Mairéad - rhymes with parade
P.S. Weetabix can be purchased online from Food Ireland. You can learn more about their products and where to purchase Irish food online in the United States here.
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Marie Ennis-O'Connor (@JBBC)
This is such a clever idea - I am definitely going to give this a try!
Irish American Mom
Marie - Weetabix in muffins sounds strange but they do taste great. My kids love them! All the best!
Deirdre
What a GREAT idea you are a wiz at great shortcuts I loved Weetbix too it's one of those "good" things for you as a child who really liked ;>
I urge any American out there to try them for Brekkie hearty start to the morning. Now I just wished they made a gluten free version so I could try these out and my sister who is Cealic gret party dish.
Irish American Mom
I loved Weetabix too Deirdre. Still do!!! I am so glad I can get them at Trader Joes or our local Meijer grocery store. Have a great weekend!
Deirdre
Opps can you tell I'm on my iPad in bright sunlight. Can't see those keys!
Samantha
What a great recipie !! I made your sausage rolls a few weeks back .When I googled the recipie I came upon your lovely blog. My husband is from Offaly and is often homesick for his mother's cooking he only eats once a year when we go home to visit. Luckily living close to Boston we have access to lots of stores that carry Irish foods , meats , and sausage. I'd like to thank you for your straight forward approach to explaining things. My husband will love it most of all . Thank you again.
Samantha
Irish American Mom
Samantha - I am delighted you found my site and thanks so much for your kind words. Glad you liked my sausage rolls. They are the closest I could come to the real thing from Ireland. Best wishes!
Helen
What a great way to use Weetabix. Thanks for the recipe.
Irish American Mom
Hi Helen - Thanks for checking out this recipe and rating it. Weetabix is always in my grocery shopping - a firm family favorite.
All the best,
Mairéad