Banana Walnut Muffins

I have both of Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbooks, and this muffin recipe is from her first one, “My Father’s Daughter.”  It is very easy to make, and pretty healthy. I, as usual, used what ingredients I have in my house, so it’s a little altered from hers.

Banana Walnut Muffins

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup whole spelt flour
1 cup white spelt flour
1/2 cup barley flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
3 very ripe medium bananas
1/2 cup real Vermont maple syrup
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

(I can never find spelt flour, so I used unbleached all purpose and unbleached whole wheat flours. I also did not have barley flour, so I just used 1/2 cup of the whole wheat in its place. Also, I used 3/4 cups of maple syrup because I can never find rice syrup either.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin or oil them with 2 tablespoons of the canola oil.

Sift the flours, baking soda and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Puree the bananas in a food processor or blender and then add the 1/4 cup of canola oil, syrups and vanilla and pulse to combine. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir just to combine and fold in the raisins and walnuts. Do not over mix or the muffins will be tough. Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.