banana pineapple muffins.

Breakfast is one of those tricky meals that everyone seems to have differing opinions on.  My opinion is that I wish I could eat oversized sticky buns, cheese danishes, and coffee cake every day but I can't because I would end up the size of a jumbo muffin.   So, I stick with safe foods like granola and yogurt, oatmeal, and peanut butter with banana.  As much as I like to convince myself I love my boring, healthy breakfasts (most days I really do), I sometimes find myself starring longingly (probably creeping them out) at my coworkers (who have metabolisms far faster then mine) feasting on the kinds of thing I only wish I could eat.  (Life can be so unfair.)  I scoured the web this past weekend, thinking there had to be a healthy/indulgent muffin hybrid somewhere out there that I had yet to discover and what I discovered is that there really was no middle ground.  There were strussel-topped chocolate filled muffins (over-the top!) and there were bran, flax, seed muffins (for the granola lovers) but not much in between which is where my banana pineapple muffin creation comes in.  These are healthy - chock full of fruit and whole wheat but they also satisfy my innate desire to eat something that tastes indulgent before noon.  Sometimes you can have the best of both worlds which makes me incredibly happy. 

Banana Pineapple Muffins

I wont lie that as I was making these I was super apprehensive of these coming out any good, I mean I was completely winging it hoping something somewhat edible would emerge from the oven.  But luck was on my side on that day and these came out beautifully.  If you hate pineapple you could omit it or replace it with shredded coconut.  You can also replace the cocoa nibs with toasted walnuts but that would be a real shame in my book since I love any excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast.   

Makes 12 muffins (probably 14 if your don't overfill but I love to overfill)

2 large eggs
1 cup milk (coconut milk or regular)
1 cup diced pineapple
1 medium-sized banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or 165 grams)
1 cup all-purpose flour (or 150 grams)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa nibs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, banana, pineapple, and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, sift together flours, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add sugar and and stir to mix.

Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture, then stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Add coconut oil/butter and cocoa nibs, and stir until just smooth. 

Butter and flour a 12 cup muffin tin, or coat it with a nonstick spray. Portion batter out in pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, anywhere 22 – 30 minutes.  Let cool 5 min in pan and then invert onto a wire rack to finish cooling.  Can be stored in air tight container for 3 days.