Have you ever had hummingbird cake before? I think you can consider it a sister to carrot cake or zucchini bread?
The great thing about this recipe is that the recipe calls for bananas and applesauce, two ingredients that can be used in baking to reduce fat already. So instead of feeling like you are replacing oil or butter for a healthier swap, the swaps are truly part of the recipe.
I created this recipe with half of the mashed banana than most of the other versions I reviewed. Personally, I am not at all a fan of bananas, I think they over power everything they are in. I think this ratio lets all the ingredients shine rather than banana bread with pineapple pieces…
Lastly, this recipe can be made as muffins or a bread loaf, all you need to do is alter your cook time!
Healthy Hummingbird Muffins
applesauce and bananas lighten up this hummingbird recipe that can easily be made as a loaf or muffins
Ingredients
- 1 banana mashed
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
- 1/4 cup walnut pieces
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 1/2 cups AP flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
For the cream cheese glaze (optional):
- 4 oz light cream cheese
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp almond milk
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners or use a loaf pan and spray the inside of the liners with non-stick cooking spray.
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If you are using a fresh pineapple, cut 1/2 a cup of pineapple into bite size pieces.
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In medium bowl, combine banana, applesauce, pineapple, walnut pieces, both sugars, egg, oil, and vanilla, whisk together; set aside.
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In a separate large bowl, coconut, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
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Slowly add the wet ingredients in with the dry. Alternate between the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and almond milk. Stir until just combined; do not overmix!
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Fill cupcakes almost 2/3 full or 1 loaf pan.
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Bake muffins for 16-20 minutes or loaf 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
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Cool pan on wire rack for 10 minutes then remove from pan and transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.
For the cream cheese glaze (optional):
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Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and almond bowl in a large bowl with a mixer. Add more almond milk until the glaze is the consistency you are looking for. It needs to be somewhat thin if you are trying to achieve the drips!
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Drizzle the glaze over the loaf or muffins.
Recipe Notes
- You could sub half of the AP flour with whole wheat flour without modifying the taste too much.
- You can also use canned pineapple, but make sure its canned in 100% fruit juice and not syrup!
- Make sure the center of your loaf is cooked all the way through, this takes time!
My department at works “tries” to bring in breakfast for the staff every Friday. In theory, a different staff member signs up every week, in practice, we may be lucky once a month! Anyways, today I am bringing in these muffins, so let us know what you think!
Be sure to follow figsandflour on instagram and tag your recipes with #figsandflour! You can also follow the Figs & Flour Facebook page. I would love to see what you are cooking in your kitchen!
The recipe serves 1 or 2 depending on how hungry you are. I initially intended for the recipe to serve 1, but the pan that I had was only big enough for half the sweet potatoes and one egg. However, after I finished one serving, I decided it was too good and cooked the rest of the potatoes with another egg.
