Banana Macadamia Muffins

A few years ago, I got on a muffin kick. I tried several muffin recipes and kept a few that were real winners. This is one of those. These muffins are pretty healthy, and very tasty. I made them even more healthy by adding whole wheat flour. I also decreased the amount of butter and increased the amount of bananas without changing flavor or texture. White chocolate chips are optional, and these are still delicious without them.

Banana Macadamia Muffins

3/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 1/2 cup Bananas, Mashed
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
1/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Butter, Melted
1 Large Egg
1 cup Macadamia Nuts, Divided
1 cup White Chocolate Chips, Divided (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners. Sift first 5 ingredients into a large bowl. Combine bananas, both sugars, butter, milk and egg in medium bowl. Mix into dry ingredients. Fold half nuts and white chocolate chips into batter.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips. Bake until muffins are golden brown, and tester inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack and cool.

Nutrition Information per serving (1 muffin): 352 Calories; 18 g Fat (46 % of calories from fat; 5 g Protein, ; 43 g Carbohydrates; 3 g Dietary Fiber; 27 mg Cholesterol; 277 mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 3 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

If you leave the White Chocolate Chips out, the calories drop to 245 calories per muffin, quite a drop if you can do without them.

Tip of the Day: My family only has 3 people. My daughter loves muffins for breakfast, so we freeze leftover muffins in a zip-lock bag. She is delighted to have extra choices for breakfast, and I'm happy for her to have something she loves with no more extra work for me on busy mornings.