Snow Day = Muffin Day

Seattle woke up to quite a bit of snow today, which is a rare treat for us! It is so gorgeous and white outside of my window.

The snow inspired me to bake some muffins to warm up our kitchen and make the house cozy :). After several batches, these banana buttermilk muffins were our favorite. I used all whole-wheat pastry flour instead of mixing it with all-purpose flour. I think banana muffins can stand up well to the nuttier flavor of whole-wheat flour. Other than that, I followed the recipe pretty closely. They are tender from the buttermilk and nice and sweet from the ripe bananas I pulled out of our freezer. It will definitely be a good one to go with our morning coffee even after the snow melts :).

Banana Buttermilk Muffins

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

1 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 cup well-mashed ripe banana

2 Tbs. canola oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Spray 12 standard muffin cups with canola-oil cooking spray, or use paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.

In another bowl or a large, glass measuring pitcher, whisk together the buttermilk, banana, oil, egg and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Sprinkle the tops evenly with the walnuts.

Bake the muffins until they are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn out onto the rack and let cool completely. The muffins will keep in a zippered plastic bag at room temperature for 2 or 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Makes 12 muffins.