Confession time: I’ve been kinda terrible about eating breakfast lately. I know it’s the most important meal of the day. I know eating in the morning boosts your metabolism. I know that after fasting all night long, my body is crying out for calories in the morning. But eating breakfast has always been a struggle for me.
I blame it on the fact that I’m such a morning person. I wake up ready to face the day! And I want to accomplish as much as I possibly can while I’m all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Normally I sit down to start to tackle my to-do list as soon as I wake up, and before I even know it, it’s almost noon and my tummy is rumbling. I know it isn’t great for me, but man, I’m accomplishing so much!
The Ultimate Guide to Healthy School Lunches
We’ve packed (pun intended!) all our knowledge from years of making school lunches into one digital master guide!
To try to help me get back on the breakfast bandwagon, I’ve been trying to stock our kitchen with a few super easy and healthy grab-and-go breakfast items. I’ve been boiling a dozen or so eggs every week and stashing them in the fridge, and I’ve been trying to have some sort of breakfast-y baked good in the freezer all the time, like these whole wheat banana muffins. I can reheat a muffin and peel a hard-boiled egg in the time it takes for me to make my morning cup of green tea (or coffee, if I’m particularly tired). That’s the kind of breakfast that I can fit in without impacting my productivity time.
As I get older, I’m learning that importance of going with the flow of my natural habits instead of trying constantly to fight them. I think maybe that’s the one of the joys of being middle-aged—you start to embrace your flaws as vital parts of you instead of fighting to change them.
Instead, you adjust your environment to work with your flaws. One of my flaws is that I’m terrible at sitting down and eating when I’m busy, for years, I just kept saying, “I just need to stop doing that. I need to sit down and eat all my meals. I need to change.” But it never stuck when I’d try. Now, I’m learning to adjust my environment to fit my behavior. I make sure to have my house stocked with quick, healthy snacks. I fill my dinner menu with speedy options. And I have healthy muffins in my freezer for breakfast. I do believe people can change, but I also believe that it’s important to treat yourself with kindness and respect your flaws. It feels so freeing to be able to say, “This is who I am, and I’m going to make it work.”
Let’s talk about these healthy whole wheat banana muffins. 100% whole wheat, so they are packed with healthy fiber. Full of awesome banana (and chocolate, if you want to add chocolate chips) flavor that is a great way to kickstart the day. And topped with a unique hemp seed streusel that is nutty, crunchy, and crazy good for you. I’m all about the hemp seed right now.
Hemp seeds are one of the greatest plant-based sources of Omega fatty acids. They also have a ton of vegetarian protein (that also happens to be highly digestible). They also have an incredible taste and texture! They are nutty and earthy, but mild. And they have this awesome crunchy, yet chewy, texture. I put hemp seeds on almost everything!
Enjoy!
Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Hemp Seed Streusel
These healthy Whole Wheat Banana Muffins are topped with a superfood surprise—a sweet and crunchy hemp seed streusel.
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips, optional
For the Streusel:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/3 cup hemp seeds
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Fit a muffin tin with paper muffin cups or spray with cooking spray, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the butter, sugar, mashed bananas, egg, vanilla extract, and milk until well-combined. Set aside.
- In a second bowl, stir together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix! Fold in the chocolate chips, if using.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup up about 2/3 full. Set aside.
- To make the streusel, mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, hemp seeds, and salt in a small bowl. Stream in the melted butter and stir until well-distributed. Sprinkle the streusel over top of each muffin, pressing in slightly to "stick".
- Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Notes
This recipe will make 12 large muffins (think: coffee shop style) or 18 regular-sized muffins. You can also spoon the batter into a mini muffin tin and get 36—just reduce the baking time down to 10 minutes or so.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 large muffinAmount Per Serving: Calories: 379Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 318mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 5gSugar: 27gProtein: 7g
At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.
