Whole wheat banana wheat germ muffins with chocolate chips

A month or two ago, I bought a fresh bag of wheat germ to make these blueberry-banana muffins for my husband.  He really enjoys a good breakfast muffin every so often!  I won't say I was left holding the bag but I did wonder what else I could do with all the leftover wheat germ since I hate to waste and always have this burning desire to make use of everything (at least, before their expiration date). I got lucky and spotted this whole wheat banana wheat germ muffin recipe that really caught my eye.

These muffins are made with whole wheat flour and wheat germ, sweetened with honey.  Chocolate chips (somewhat) optional.

It helped that the muffins I spotted were beautiful (with puffy domed tops that I was not able to achieve likely due to my over-zealousness when it comes to adding bananas) and had a Nutella swirl on top to boot (as you can see, I opted for miniature chocolate chips).  The other major selling point was how wholesome these muffins are...dare I say these actually qualify as healthy muffins?

When I say "healthy", I mean they are made with whole wheat flour (I like to use white whole wheat) and wheat germ.  That's it - no other flours.  Aside from the bananas, they are simply sweetened with honey.  There's a bit of canola oil involved, and I opted to include some chocolate chips just to make sure I wasn't being too virtuous.

I can be a little too generous with my banana measurement...my muffins were super moist

I was a little skeptical about the whole wheat flour-wheat germ combo going in but I couldn't resist such a potentially great use of my bag of wheat germ.  And you know what?  These are some good muffins!  They turned out flavorful and very moist - all the more so since I was a little heavy-handed with the mashed bananas.  Though that meant I ended up with rather sunken muffin tops, you won't find us complaining about too much moisture in a muffin!

My husband enjoyed these and even the picky 8-year old was a fan, and he can be rather picky about his banana muffins!  I'm glad he liked these because they are far less sweet and much healthier than his favorite banana muffins.  I would be happy to make these often and feel good about having them for a quick breakfast.  I hope you give it a try if you're a fan of muffins or if, like me, you find yourself with some wheat germ on hand that you need a good use for!

Just fyi, I used raw, or untoasted, wheat germ.  That, plus white whole wheat flour, makes up the bulk of the dry ingredients.  It's nice to discover recipes that don't include white flour at all and still tastes great.

I made a half recipe, or six muffins, in my first go-round.  As I said, I used a bit more mashed bananas than I needed.  The muffins turned out super moist but the tops were a bit sunken with the weight and moisture of the bananas.  I love a firm puffy domed top but having some extra-moist muffins to eat wasn't exactly a big sacrifice.  

I added about 1/4 cup of miniature chocolate chips for my batch of half-dozen muffins.  I like to set aside a few of those chips to stud the tops with before baking so that the chocolate chips are front and center.  Feel free to leave out the chocolate chips (though I really recommend it) or opt for other mix-ins such as chopped nuts.  I would add nuts to just about everything but the little one doesn't share my enthusiasm on that front.

Quick, easy, and tasty, these muffins have earned a place in my regular muffin-making rotation.

Recipe:

Whole Wheat Banana Wheat Germ Muffins with Chocolate Chips
Adapted from Once Upon a Recipe, who adapted her nutella-swirl version from weelicious

- Makes 12 muffins -

1 cup whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat flour)
1 cup wheat germ (I use raw wheat germ)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
3 very ripe medium-size bananas, mashed
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a standard-size 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Stir in the min chocolate chips (if desired, reserve a rounded tablespoon of chocolate chips to stud the top of the muffins with later).

In another bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, honey, canola oil, vanilla, and egg.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry.  Gently mix together with a rubber spatula until just incorporated.

Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups.  If you've reserved some chocolate chips, stud the top of the muffins with them.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean, approximately 20 minutes.  Let muffins cool in the pan a few minutes, then remove them from the tin and let cool completely on a wire rack.  Muffins can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 3 days.