Chasing the Fionist Dream

Do you ever end up tossing fruit or veggies that go bad? We do sometimes, but we haven’t thrown out bananas in years. Or apples, or carrots, or squash or a variety of other fruits or veggies. It doesn’t matter how cheap something is, if it ends up in the trash, it’s a waste of money. And fortunately, fruits and veggies tend to have this sweet spot – once they’re too soft or grainy to eat raw, but before they start growing mold – that they’re perfectly good for cooking or baking. We love saving past-prime produce. That’s usually our cue to make soups, roasted veggies, or chili.

We usually make these muffins with bananas since they freeze well (seriously, just throw entire bananas or even bunches of bananas into the freezer. No need to mash or package first.) But we’ve made it successfully with all of the fruits and veggies listed below, so take your pick – or be adventurous and try it with something else. Aside from the bananas and squash, we don’t bother peeling any of the others. As long as it’s clean, it’s fine. 🙂 This recipe makes about 12 regular-size muffins, or more if you don’t fill the cups that high. They make a great breakfast or a snack and are cheaper and better for you than just about any commercial breakfast cereal. We generally add in the nuts and oats since it makes the muffins denser, more nutritious and more filling, but it’s up to you. They can stay good in an airtight container for several days or be frozen, but ours are usually gone by the next day at the latest.

Now that we’ve convinced you why you should make these muffins, let’s get on with the recipe.

Choose your fruit/vegetable (or check your kitchen to see what’s on its last legs): (Choose one thing from this list.)

• 3-4 mashed bananas, the riper the better
  
• 2-3 shredded/food processed apples
  
• 2-3 shredded/food processed pears
  
• 2-3 shredded/food processed peaches/nectarines
  
• 3-4 shredded/food processed carrots
  
• 2 cups baked and pureed butternut squash or pumpkin

We’ve also successfully done this recipe with zucchinis (shredded) or oranges (juiced and zested) but it didn’t go over as well with our taste tester group (ahem, kids).

Mix your chosen fruit or vegetable with all of the following:

• 2 eggs
  
• half a cup of oil
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• a sprinkle of salt
  
• a generous sprinkle of cinnamon
  
• 2/3 cup oats (optional)
  
• 1/2 cup sugar (optional – it depends how sweet you want the muffins to be)
  
• 1/2 cup ground walnuts (optional)
  
• a sprinkle of chocolate chips (optional – we find this goes well with bananas or carrots)
  
• 1-1.5 cups wholewheat (or white) flour (this will depend on if you included the optional ingredients above)

Stir all of the ingredients together. The consistency should be gloopy, not a runny liquid and not too thick that it sticks to the spoon. It should look like the image below. (Forgive us for the unrelated ingredients in the background.)

Prepare your muffin tin by either greasing the cups or putting in muffin papers.

Scoop your muffin batter in.

Bake at 175 C (or 350 F) for about half an hour or until done.

Enjoy!

Are you a muffin person? What’s your favorite kind to make?

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