Banana Blueberry Muffins with Health Mix/Kanji Maavu

Hello hello hello! Back after what feels like forever and as always my comeback is a recipe post (duh!). A couple of days back I had posted about a kanji/health mix bowl I had for breakfast on Instagram and mentioned about using the rest of it to bake something. Creepily enough, Timehop popped up an image of strawberry muffins I had made a couple of years ago using kanji maavu/health mix that very same day.

So I did a little bit of digging around and found the recipe I had used back then and today I modified it to make some beautifully moist, not overly sweet muffins. My son ‘helped’ me put them together and thankfully resorted to licking the batter from the mixing bowl later on instead of insisting on filling the muffin tray. oh, the joy of having to clean up a little lesser than usual. :’)

Anyway, I’ll jump right to the recipe so that you can quickly whip up a batch of these beauties too.

• Time Taken – 30-40 minutes
• Makes – 12-15 muffins

Ingredients: (see notes below before you begin)

• 2 cups flour – I used 1 cup kanji maavu/Manna health mix and 1 cup atta
• 1/2 cup butter – unsalted, softened
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar – I used a mix of coconut sugar + cane sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 ripe bananas – mashed
• 3/4 to 1 cup blueberries – fresh or frozen
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
• 2-3tbs water or milk (to adjust consistency)

Method:

1. Prepare your muffin tray and set aside. Preheat oven to 180º Celsius.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder (if using) and set aside.
3. Sprinkle some flour on the blueberries and set them aside. This will ensure they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffin.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together and then add in the mashed bananas, vanilla essence (if using) and mix well.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the above mixture and mix gently. Do not over-mix. The batter will be fairly thick. You can use a splash of milk/water to adjust consistency if it’s too thick.
6. Fold in the blueberries and pour into prepared muffin tray.
7. Sprinkle the top with some sugar (optional)
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Once done, transfer to a cooling rack and serve warm with a cup of chai/coffee for the adults and the kiddos can enjoy it with some milk.

These are fairly healthy and would be a great snack box option or even as a breakfast muffin along with some jam, fruits and milk for kids. My toddler gobbled up two of them right after I made them, also probably the only way he eats bananas.

Personally, I think these taste best when served warm so if you’re eating it the next day, quickly warm it up before serving.

As a bonus I’ll also leave you with a quick sugar-free jam recipe to go with these muffins, yep, I’m totally generous like that – Here you go! I’ve followed this recipe and made jam one too many times and absolutely loved it. I use a mix of berries I have and tried substituting the honey for maple syrup as well.  I usually half or quarter the ingredients depending on the amount of berries I have in hand.

Notes: 

1. I used equal quantities of atta and kanji maavu/health mix. You can use just atta or maida/all purpose flour too.
2. If using salted butter, skip the salt in the recipe.
3. If you want to make a vegan version, an equal amount of solidified coconut oil should work.
4. You can use refined sugar if you don’t have coconut sugar or cane sugar.
5. Adjust the quantity of sugar you use according to the sweetness of the bananas and your personal preference.
6. You can use any sort of berries you have or chocolate chips if you’re feeling indulgent; or walnuts or pecans too.