Banana, Bran and Walnut Muffins

I was really surprised by these muffins.  I think of bran muffins as boring little rock cakes – a dense lump and not at all appealing.  But, in an effort to make something not so sweet and a tad more healthy, I gave some a go.  The surprising part is that I love the result.  You can taste the bran a bit, but the banana flavour is there, stopping the muffins from being bland, and in every mouthful you get some slightly crunchy walnut bits.  The thing that surprised me the most is that the muffins still have that crumbly cake texture that I thought I was going to sadly be missing.  I am really happy with these muffins;  I don’t feel guilty eating one for morning tea (or breakfast – I’m writing this post before having breakfast and trying to describe the muffins talked my brain into making me go get one!), they are soft, moist and have a cakey texture, and they have the perfect banana flavour.  Oh, and I made them so they are a simple beat the wet ingredients together, mix through the dry ingredients, pour them in the tins and back recipe.  Really quick. 
I was going to mix through some Chia seeds but completely forgot, so if you try that addition (a couple of tablespoons maybe?) let me know how they go.  I now have bran in the cupboard so I’m going to be experimenting with more recipes soon!

Makes 12.

Ingredients:
1 cup mashed banana
2 tablespoons oil (vegetable, sunflower or canola)
2 eggs
100g butter, melted
½ cup milk
1 cup bran
½ cup sugar
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup chopped walnuts

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease or line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin papers.
In a large bowl, beat together all the wet ingredients (the banana down to the milk on the list).  Add in the dry ingredients, excluding the walnuts, and mix through to make a smooth batter.  Fold through the walnut pieces.
Divide the mixture between the prepared muffin tin holes and bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin can be removed cleanly.
Remove from the oven and leave standing in the tin for 5 minutes, before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.