This recipe came about as the result of packing school lunches. Two of our children are now in school and both have students in their class with nut allergies. In an effort to reduce the risk of exposure we have been looking for foods out children will love that replace our household staples of almonds, nut mixes, peanut butter sandwiches, etc.
I got to work in the kitchen and made some healthy changes to my old banana bread recipe, and this is the result. We love these muffins! They are moist, fluffy, tasty and packed with 5 grams of protein. They make an easy breakfast when I am busy, and certainly a fun and nutritious addition to a healthy lunch.
Note: While I don’t want to stress over protein quantity – or any other nutrient – I find that adding fun stuff like this makes it easier to be sure that the kids are getting what they need. The fact that they love these, makes it even better and gives me peace.of.mind. I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as we do!
- 1/2 cup organic applesauce (unsweetened)
- 1 cup organic sugar
- 8 tablespoons organic butter
- 3 cups organic all-purpose flour
- 3 very ripe organic bananas (mashed)
- 1/3 cup organic dry red lentils (overcooked & mashed)
- 2 organic eggs
- 1/2 cup organic sour cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup organic raw pumpkin seeds (optional)
- Preheat oven to 325 F
- Lightly oil your pans (I use a brush + olive oil). Optional: Dust the pan with sugar or a cinnamon/sugar mix. (This adds a smudge of flavor, a nice look and makes them easy to pop out of the pan!)
- Mix butter, sugar & applesauce.
- Add in the remaining ingredients: Flour, bananas, lentils, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, & baking soda. Mix just until even & wet. Optional: Fold in pumpkin seeds.
- Fill cups ¾ full (more if you like more “muffin top”) & bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick (I use a chopstick) comes out clean.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I now have a K student as well and he is one picky eater boy. I do a lot of vegetable and fruit pureeing that I mix with sauces and things I bake. I am also assigned to prepare snacks for the K students next Monday, something nut-free so I might want to make these instead. 🙂 I will let you know how mine turned out then.
Lentils! In Muffins! I am so excited 🙂 My 4 year old daughter and I loooooove baking all sorts of different things and seeing if daddy can guess the ingredients… We have hidden all sorts of other beans, but never lentils. Thanks for the recipe!
This looks like a good recipe to try. I will have to pick up some red lentils. Then make them and not let the husband know the lentils are in there ;-).
These sound amazing! I’ll have to try these out!