When my birthday rolled around in February my neighbor, Gaye, brought me this beautiful plate of Crunchy Pecan-Banana Coffee Cake Muffins! She is not only a really good cook and baker she is also very thoughtful. So along with this lovely plate of muffins she brought the recipe! (Knowing I would probably ask for it!)
This recipe comes from the folks who make Great Grains cereal. From their website I learned a bit about supporting a healthy metabolism. For instance, did you know that eating breakfast to “break fast” can increase your metabolism by as much as 10%? The process of metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories, and ultimately, how quickly we gain weight or how easily we lose it.
These muffins are very filling and will stick with you through the morning! They are dense and packed with quite a bit of flavor. I think raisins or dates could easily be added. They can be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer, taking one out at a time, or just stored in an airtight container during the week so you have one ready to go as you leave for work. A muffin is a good mid-morning snack and these are better for you than what you will find in the snack machine or from the bakery counter! They are also fun to share! 
Speaking of sharing, have you ever seen a “sharing plate?” Along with the muffins came this fabulous plate. Gaye said she “just knew” I would be the perfect person to give it to, as she knew I would “pass it on.” She is right and I am so glad she picked me! Sharing with family, friends, and neighbors is part of what makes cooking and baking so meaningful to me. I hope you will find someone to share these muffins with!
Just a thought … maybe you have a minute to share this website with a friend or family member too!
~Blessings, Catherine
Using Great Grains Crunchy Pecan cereal gives these healthy muffins a quick head-start when baking from scratch.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup Great Grains Crunchy Pecan cereal
- 1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 ripe bananas (14 ounces total), peeled
- 1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1 large egg white
- 1 1/4 cups Great Grains Crunchy Pecan cereal
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.
- Toss the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl to blend.
- Stir in the oil and maple syrup. Stir in the cereal. Set the streusel aside.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl to blend.
- Using a fork, coarsely mash the bananas in a large bowl.
- Stir in the yogurt, oil, and egg white.
- Add the dry ingredients to the yogurt mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the cereal. The batter will be thick.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared cups.
- Sprinkle the streusel over, gently pressing it into the top of the batter.
- Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan on a cooling rack. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely on the rack.
Notes
The muffins can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
NOTE to self: Read the entire recipe before making promises to family and friends there will be homemade bread for dinner.
First decision – make the bread, skip the refrigerator part. I started with creaming the butter and sugar, adding in pumpkin. Pretty.
Second decision – Craisins to substitute for fresh cranberries, mixed with plumped up raisins (I set them in a little warm water for a few minutes.) Very pretty.
Bloom the yeast – the little bubbles show this yeast is active and healthy and ready to do its job!
Once I mixed in the dry ingredients I kneaded it in my Kitchen Aid for 10 minutes. The recipe said 10 to 15 minutes and at 10 the dough was perfect. I added the fruit and nuts and let the dough rise until double, which was about 2 hours. At this point it should have gone in the refrigerator for overnight.
Third decision – use large muffin tin to make each roll. I still had enough dough left over to form into a mound and bake in a little 6″ round cake pan. 
The rolls took 25 minutes at 350 degrees. I did the “200 degree F.” test and they were done perfectly. The 6″ round bread took 30 minutes.
Isn’t this just the cutest? Oh but wait … there’s more!
Pumpkin + Yeast + fruits + nuts = A surprisingly sweet, yeasty flavor with outstanding texture and a wonderful crumb that comes from just the right hydration with careful handling of the dough. Oh, what about the rolls you ask?
Yeah! I just discovered another keeper bread recipe. The Chief says it reminds him of a fall version of a hot cross bun. My sous-chef dish-washing mom (who has finally returned home) loves the color and flavor the pumpkin adds. Me? I just love bread that really surprises me … and this is just such a bread. I highly recommend making it in little round loaves or a muffin tin 
My thanks to 
If you have been with me very long you will know I LOVE baking bread! You will also know that every-other-Tuesday I join about 400+ bakers around the world as we are baking our way through Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook, Baking With Julia. So when Whole Wheat Loaves came up as our next Tuesdays Wit
h Dorie recipe I was thrilled. In our home we typically eat whole wheat or multi-grain bread, except of course when the 
Hundreds of loaves later … the wheat bread recipe from Baking With Julia, is the perfect recipe to add to any recipe arsenal. In Dorie’s own words, “… this bread has the flavor and heft to stand up to strong cheeses and spicy cold cuts, making it first-class sandwich fare.”
What I didn’t know “back then” and is a “must know” now, is that the liquid (water or milk) needs to be between 105 degrees F. and 115 degrees F. when used to dissolve the yeast. Any cooler the yeast won’t bloom, any hotter runs the risk of killing the yeast. For me about 110 degrees F. is just perfect. I remember when recipes stated “water should be the temperature of a baby’s bottle.” Oookkkkaaay …. whatever that means. Trust me on this one, when making bread get an instant read thermometer, warm the water to 105 to 115 and you will be off to a GREAT start!
Yeast, water, honey and a few minutes “resting” will cause the active yeast to bloom beautifully as it begins to bubble. The rest of the ingredients are added into this incredibly fragrant liquid. Often times bakers are confused about the different types of yeast and what to use if a recipe calls for one kind, but all you have is another. There are three basic types of yeast: fresh (or cake), instant, and active dry. One of my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie bakers wrote a very informative blog post about yeast. Check it out at 
My bread dough was mixed in a Kitchen Aid mixer and kneaded for 10 minutes. I love this part. I add the flour slowly leaving about 3/4 cup to add one tablespoon at a time while the bread is being kneaded. My hands aren’t actually doing the kneading but I tend to the dough, scrape down the sides and watching for the moment the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms into a ball. I stop adding flour at that time. Even if I have 1/4 to 1/2 cup left I don’t add it. Adding too much flour is how I made “bricks” in the past.
The dough is oiled and placed in a bowl to rise, doubling in size. This takes about 1 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature indoors, outdoors, the humidity and a multitude of other factors that I am sure have sabotaged my bread … in the past. Once the dough has risen a first time, it is divided, shaped and placed in baking pans to rise again. When the dough rises about 1″ above the pan line it is ready for the oven.
This bread bakes at 375 degrees F. for about 35 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown. Now is the second time you will want to use your instant read thermometer. When the bread is done it will register 200 degrees F. on the instant read. The easiest way to know is to take the bread out of the oven, tip the pan and let the loaf fall on its top. Quickly plunge the thermometer into the bottom of the loaf. At 200 degrees F. – DONE!
The loaves should be removed from their pans as soon as they come from the oven and cooled on racks. Here comes the hard part … these should not be cut until they are almost completely cool. We most generally cut too early, slather on butter and enjoy! This recipe makes great bread for toast and sandwiches.
