Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins

These muffins are a great staple to have on hand at any time of year. And they make good use of “all the Pemberton blueberries you froze last summer”. You did that of course.

Lisa has asked me to explain why I substitute spelt for wheat flour on every occasion. Well, a number of years ago my mother warned me that wheat is inflammatory and can cause arthritis-like symptoms in people after the age of 40. And like clockwork, after I hit 40, sure enough, my hands got stiff after I ate wheat. Didn’t matter if it was crackers or bread: after I ate wheat my hands were stiff the next day.

So it was a no-brainer to switch to spelt. If you can get to Costco, some locations sell Anita’s Sprouted spelt flour which I really like. Some brands don’t work well. I tried the Everland brand from Amazon and my muffins did not hold together at all.

Thank you Mum for this invaluable advice. I hope others will give it a go. Stiff hands and fingers are no fun at all, and it really is an easy switch to transition to spelt. I have no time for white flour anyway. No nutrition content and I prefer the nutty, complex taste of whole grains in most of my baking – with the exception of brownies and birthday cakes!

Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins (yield: 15-18 muffins depending on size)

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tbs whole grain spelt flour

2 tbs corn meal

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

½ cup grapeseed oil

½ cup white sugar

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup blueberries

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

Method:

Place mashed bananas, oil, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda in stand mixer and beat well until combined. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until just combined.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Use a 3 tbs spring-loaded cookie/muffin scoop (I like the OXO brand) to place scoops of batter into buttered muffin pans. (I like silicone muffin pans as they clean easily in the dishwasher.)

Press 3-4 blueberries into top each muffin. (I prefer adding my blueberries this way as then they look nicer but you can always add during mixing process.)

Bake 20 minutes and check for doneness. May need another 5 minutes. Oven temperatures vary so baking times are not set in stone. Enjoy!

** Coming Soon: another cookbook review – thanks to Lisa. I tried one recipe from a very recently-published Japanese cuisine cookbook, but the result was ho-hum so it needs some more time and patience!