Whole Wheat Muffins

This recipe by Mark Bittman is pretty good, and it uses all whole wheat flour (most recipes call for half and half.) However, he recommended pastry flour, and that’s what I used; I’m not sure it would work as well with regular whole wheat flour. For my muffins, I used two bananas, one very ripe, so ¾ cup of sugar was more than enough. I added about ½ cup of chopped walnuts, but you could use dried fruit or a combination of fruit and nuts; Mark suggests about ½ cup altogether.

½ cup melted unsalted butter, more for greasing tins
2½ cups whole wheat flour, preferably pastry flour
¾ to 1 cup sugar, depending on sweetness of fruit
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed or puréed banana, sweet potato, apple, zucchini, cooked or canned pumpkin, or other fruits or vegetables
1 egg, beaten
½ cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease two 6-cup muffin tins or fill with liners. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, banana, egg and buttermilk. Fold wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined.
2. Fill muffin tins or liners; bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until muffins are puffed and turning golden brown on top. Serve warm if possible. Yield: 12 muffins.