Olive Oil Banana Bran Muffins

On a Sunday morning the smell of freshly baked muffins and coffee brewing is almost a magical way to to greet the day. These muffins are filled with bananas, bran, whole wheat, honey and olive oil. They are not overly sweet so I enjoy them with a pat of  homemade butter and a drizzle of extra honey. I had to share mine with my dog Lulu who goes nuts for anything with cinnamon in it.

You will need:

• 1 cup bran
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup mashed banana (approx 2)
• 2 eggs 
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or raisins -optional

Step 1: in a large bowl combine all dry ingredients: add bran, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix with a whisk and set aside.

Step 2: in a small bowl mash bananas, then add eggs and mix until incorporated. I always have frozen over ripe bananas and you can microwave them for 1 minute to soften or use a fresh over ripe banana, the blacker and rotten looking the peel the better. 

Step 3: in another bowl add honey, olive oil and orange juice. Whisk to mix the honey in well. Add the banana mix to the honey mix. Whisk well.

Step 4: add the wet mix to the dry and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until just incorporated. You can add nuts or raisins if you like as well.

Step 5: using an ice cream scoop fill paper 12 muffin cups. I use paper liners just for easy clean up. If you don't have an ice cream scoop then pour batter into a large measuring cup with a spout so you can pour them cleanly into cups.

Step 6: Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Eat them warm with butter and honey or enjoy them room temperature.