Banana Pomegranate Muffins

Banana Pomegranate Muffins are healthy and delicious fruity bakes. Made using whole wheat flour, these muffins are egg-less, butter-less and refined-sugar free. Studded with fresh pomegranate arils these vegan bakes not only look appealing but they are flavorful too. The added cinnamon powder compliments very well with banana and jaggery. Serve these delightful banana pomegrante muffins at tea-time , as a mid-day snack, or as an after-school treat for your kids. The best part about these muffins is that they are ready within 40 minutes from scratch and stay good up to a week on refrigeration in an air-tight container.

What goes into my Banana Pomegranate Muffins?

As mentioned above these vegan banana pomegranate muffins are healthy and can be enjoyed as guilt-free treats. The reason is that the muffins are made with whole wheat flour and refined sugar is replaced with jaggery powder. Let's have a look at the ingredinets one by one.

• Over-ripe Bananas - use sweet ripe bananas for best results. The peels of over-ripe bananas have multiple black spots and the banana is soft and mushy. Over-ripe bananas act as a substitute for egg in this recipe. You may use 2 large or 3 medium sized over-ripe bananas in this recipe.
• Whole Wheat flour - Whole wheat bakes are a bit dense compared to the ones with refined flour but considering the health factor, i do not mind it. If you want less dense muffins, use APF and whole wheat flour in 1:1 ratio
• Oil - Use any neutral cooking oil like sunflower, soybean or olive oil.
• Jaggery powder - I prefer substituting refined sugar with organic jaggery powder in almost all my desserts and bakes and once you are adapted to the taste, trust me you will never use refined sugar. You may replace jaggery powder with coconut sugar or any other healthier sweetener.
• Cinnamon powder - Cinnamon powder is the flavoring agent used in these muffins which compliments very well with the banana and jaggery flavors. However the cinnamon flavors are over dominating if used in larger quantities, so stick to the quantity mentioned in the recipe. You may also replace it with vanilla extract.
• Pomegranate - These banana muffins are studded with fresh pomegranate arils which give a sweet pop in every bite. You may replace it with any nut or dry fruit of your choice like raisins, black currants, cranberries, almond or walnut.
• Lemon Juice - I have added juice of one lemon in the muffin batter. It balances the flavors very well.
• Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt.

Dietary Tips

• Egless
• Butterless
• Refined flour free
• Refined sugar free
• Kid friendly
• Toddler recipe
• Saatvik
• Healthy bakes
• Free of artificial flavor and colours
• Preservative free
• Vegan

Fruity Bites@Foodie Monday Bloghop

Fruity Bites is the 259th theme on Foodie Monday Blog Hop, a facebook gourmet grouo where a bunch of like-minded bloggers share their culinary creations each week depending upon a pre-decided theme. Archana di who blogs @MadScientistsKitchen was our hostess for this week and among the 2 themes she proposed, Fruity Bites won with maximum votes. Archana di suggested that we come up with any desserts with fruits as the star ingredient. We could use any dry fruit or fresh fruits. I had not shared a bake from a long time on the blog, so chose to bake these fruity muffins using bananas and pomegranates as my contribution towards the theme. Meanwhile, do check out Archana di's space for her lovely kitchen experiments from around the globe. I look up her blog for authentic goan recipes too. I have tried out a couple of recipes from her blog and they turned out great. Sweet Potato Bruschetta was super hit at my place. Her Honey cake and Jam Swirled Muffins are next on my to-do-list.

             

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Baking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 8 muffins

Ingredients: Measurements used 1 cup = 240ml

• 2 large overripe banana
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup jaggery powder
• 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
• 1/4 cup oil (use any neutral cooking oil)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Line the muffin holders or grease them with oil. Keep aside. Take a mixing bowl,  peel the over ripe bananas and add it to the bowl. Mash the bananas using a potato masher or fork. 

2. Next, add jaggery powder to it and whisk well. Once, all the jaggery has blended well with the mashed banana, add oil and whisk again. Lastly add lemon juice and give a quick stir. Our wet ingredients are ready.

3. Sift the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda,salt and cinnamon powder in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients in batches to the wet ingredients and fold well using a spatula. Do not over beat.

4. Lastly fold in the pomegranate seeds. Now, scoop out the batter into the greased muffin holders upto 3/4 of its capacity. Tap the muffin tray to release the trapped air. Transfer the muffin tray to preheated oven and bake the fummins at 180 Degrees celsius for around 25 minutes. Keep an eye after 22 minutes as the time varies from oven to oven. Insert a tooth pick in the centre of the muffin to check the doneness. If it comes out clear, the muffins are well baked. If you feel the inserted toothpick comes out sticky, transfer the muffins back to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.

5. Allow the muffins to cool down completely on a wire rack. Serve them at tea-time or as a healthy snack at any time of the day. Store the muffins in an air-tight container. They stay good for a day at room temperature and up to a week on refrigeration.

Recipe Notes:

• Use over ripe bananas for best results. 
• You may replace pomegratae seeds with any nut or dry fruit of your choice like raisins, cranberries, chopped almonds, walnuts etc.
• I have used organoc jaggery powder as a sweetener here. You may use any coconut sugar or any other sweetener of your choice.
• I have used cinnamon powder to flavor the muffins. Do not increase the quantity mentioned in the recipe as the cinnamon flavors are quite dominating. You may use vanilla extract instead.
• Whole wheat bakes are a bit dense as compared to the ones with refined flour. You may use APF and whole wheat flour in 1:1 ratio for less denser muffins.
• The muffin batter is a bit thick and not of dropping consistency. 

I hope a few of you would love to try out this recipe. If you do so, feel free to share your feedback with us in the form of likes and comments in the comment section below this post. All your suggestions are also more than welcome. If you like my work and feel it is worth following, do hit the follow button at the top right corner of this blog. Your appreciation means a lot to me. For more recipes and new updates follow us on social media.

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