Banana Nut Muffins (Vegan!)

I love banana bread and will sometimes deliberately buy ripe bananas just so I have an "excuse" to make it (like I need an excuse!) This weekend, I decided to try out a new spin on the banana bread recipe I've been using for years to make these muffins. They are so full of banana flavour - really wonderful! :) They have wheat germ so they are a great source of vitamin E and folic acid.

Makes 12 large muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. aluminium-free baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (superfood!)
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (superfood!)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup mashed banana (about 2-3 medium bananas) - I like to think bananas are a superfood!
1 additional banana, mashed (egg substitute) - superfood! (eggs are a superfood, too, if you choose to make this non-vegan)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup applesauce (you could also use 1/4 cup cooking oil if applesauce is unavailable)
1 tbsp. raw turbinado sugar (optional)

Method:
1. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper or foil cupcake cases. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, wheat germ, and walnuts. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and set aside.

3. In another bowl, combine the bananas (including the "egg" banana), brown sugar, granulated sugar, and applesauce. Add this banana mixture all at once into the well in the dry mixture. Stir until just moistened - the batter will be lumpy.
**Do not overmix as this will create tunnels and pointy tops on your finished muffins.**

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin (an ice-cream scoop is your friend here!) Sprinkle the unbaked muffins with a little turbinado sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Reference:
The basic banana bread recipe (and cooking times) are from The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1996 edition). I got the inspiration to add the wheat germ and turbinado sugar from Cooking Light's Orange-Cranberry Wheat Germ Muffin recipe which I love so much! The nutmeg and brown sugar additions were just last-minute changes I decided to try out - thank goodness they worked! I know messing with baking recipes can be a bit risky!