Whole Grain Peanut Butter and Honey Banana Muffins

The editor's first response to the manuscript arrived this week and it was — the word she used was "ambitious," which from her has a specific meaning I've learned over four books: it means she likes it and also she's going to ask me to do more work. This is the correct response. The ambitious book requires ambitious revision. I told Gary and he asked what the next steps were and I said about six weeks of revision work and he nodded and put on coffee, which is the right response to that information.

Mason's cooking career has quietly become something substantial. He's been approached about a consulting role with a restaurant group opening a new location — not a head chef position, which he said he doesn't want, but a menu development consulting role that would use his technical skills without putting him in the physical and emotional grinder of running a kitchen full-time. He talked about it with me over coffee after he dropped Eleanor at her playgroup, and I tried to ask the questions rather than give the opinions, which is hard when you have opinions.

My opinion, which I did eventually offer when asked: this sounds like him finding the version of a professional kitchen life that fits who he actually is rather than who cooking culture says a serious chef should want to be. He laughed when I said it. He said: "Did Olivia call you before this?" She hadn't. I just know him now, which is the strange gift of having someone become your son-in-law over years. You learn them.

Eleanor at seventeen months has begun attempting to feed other people. She picks up food from her plate and holds it toward the nearest adult with a focused generosity. The other day she handed Mason a piece of banana with an expression of great benevolence and watched to make sure he ate it. He did, immediately, with appropriate gratitude. She approved. The desire to feed people, apparently, can begin very early. I find this enormously hopeful.

Six weeks of revision. Mason's consulting work. Eleanor feeding people banana. May is off to a good start.

Eleanor handing Mason that piece of banana with such deliberate, generous intention stayed with me all week — the idea that the desire to feed people can arrive before language, before almost everything. It felt right to bake something that honored that impulse: simple, nourishing, made with banana, the very thing she offered. These whole grain peanut butter and honey banana muffins are the kind of thing you make when feeding someone feels like a small act of love rather than a task on a list — the kind Mason might leave on the counter for Olivia during a long revision stretch, or that Eleanor might eventually, years from now, make for someone else entirely.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 18–20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (or neutral oil)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease with cooking spray.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until evenly combined.
Mix wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, mash the bananas until mostly smooth. Add the peanut butter, honey, eggs, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and melted coconut oil. Whisk until well combined and uniform.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold gently with a rubber spatula until just combined — do not overmix. A few streaks of flour are fine; the batter will be thick.
Fill the tin. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the tops are set and lightly golden.
Cool and serve. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

Whole Grain Peanut Butter and Honey Banana Muffins — For the Little One Who Wants to Feed the World