Today I made the perfect breakfast treat. I modified a traditional banana bread recipe to be both healthy and to have a little added flair: shredded coconut. These mini muffins make for a great, quick breakfast – pair them with a fresh fruit salad and some low-fat yogurt and you’ve got yourself a filling morning meal!

Banana-Coconut-Nut Mini Muffins
Makes 24 mini muffins

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup margarine
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour (or 1 cup all purpose, 1 cup whole-wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans (or your favorite type of nut), chopped
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 24-cup mini muffin pan.
2. Combine bananas and buttermilk in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream brown sugar and margarine together until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add banana mixture and beat well. Set aside.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to liquid ingredients and stir until well-blended.
5. Stir in nuts and coconut.
6. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons batter into each cup in the muffin pan.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan. Turn muffins out onto a wire cooling rack an allow to cool completely.

Nutrition facts:
Serving size: 2 muffins
Calories: 210 kcal
Total fat: 10 g
Saturated fat: 3.2 g
Protein 4 g
Carbohydrates 27.4g
Total fiber: 2.2 g
Cholesterol 16 mg
Sodium: 216 mg

I made these a few weekends ago for a BBQ we hosted at our house – they were a hit. In fact, after eating one of these, one guest actually told my husband: “You must have sold your soul to the devil to get her to marry you.” Now that’s a good mini cake.

Recipe:

(adapted from Cupcakes by Susanna Tee)

Makes 48 mini cakes

Mini cakes:

Frosting:

Instructions:

Mini cakes:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two mini muffin pans with mini muffin liners (or you can do two rounds of mini cakes with a single mini muffin pan). Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer. Gradually add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the mashed bananas and yogurt. Fold in the flour mixture, then the mini chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the mini muffin liners, filling the liners 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake the mini cakes in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Frosting:

Place the butter in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the confectioners’ sugar and beat well. Spread the frosting on top of each mini cake and top with sprinkles, as desired.

Nutritional Information (per mini cake):

Calories: 94

Fat: 5.1 g

Saturated Fat: 3.2 g

Carbohydrates: 11.2 g

Protein: 1.1 g