Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

If you have two overripe bananas, you’re already most of the way there. These are my notes from recipe testing. You can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Einkorn flour: I’ve only tested with whole grain einkorn flour. I’m sure these would work with sifted or light einkorn flour but I haven’t tried it. This is an einkorn-specific recipe. Here’s a recipe for spelt banana muffins.
• Bananas: use overripe bananas for the best flavour. They should be browned and spotted. Less ripe bananas will have a less pleasant taste in the muffins, are less sweet, and can add a starchiness.
• Milk: I use soya milk to make vegan buttermilk. You can use dairy milk if preferred. I haven’t tested this recipe with store-bought buttermilk, which is slightly thicker.
• Vinegar: to make a homemade buttermilk. This recipe uses equal parts baking soda and baking powder, and the soda needs additional acidity to rise properly and prevent an unpleasant metallic taste.
• Eggs: for the best rise, be sure to use room temperature eggs. Cold eggs can be brought up to room temperature by submerging in warm water for ten minutes.
• Honey: you can use maple syrup but the muffins will be less sweet. I usually have creamed honey and have developed the recipe with that in mind, but any honey will work.
• Sugar: for a more complex flavour, use raw or an unrefined sugar like muscovado rather than plain white sugar. Brown sugar has added molasses and does alter the acidity of recipes, but you can use it if you want to risk it.
• Oil: I always use olive oil for these muffins but it does add a subtle bitter note. Use your preferred baking oil, but make sure it’s one that’s liquid at room temperature, not coconut oil or honey.
• Spices: the recipe calls for vanilla and nutmeg. Use other warm spices like cinnamon or cardamom to replace nutmeg if preferred.
• Baking powder and soda: for optimal rise, you will need both, and they aren’t interchangeable.

How to Make Einkorn Banana Muffins

These muffins are baked with a hot start for the first few minutes, then the temperature is reduced for the rest of the bake. In my experience, this is very useful for muffins where eggs are a major ingredient (and just about useless for vegan muffins). The initial hotter temperature helps the eggs to expand more quickly and have a greater overall volume, for lighter muffins.

Step 1: mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mash very well with a fork to break down into a paste, being sure to mash any larger pieces, or blend the wet ingredients instead.

Step 2: whisk the honey, sugar, and eggs into the mashed bananas. This is so that the honey can be more easily incorporated, particularly helpful when using creamed or thick honey.

Step 3: add the buttermilk and vanilla and whisk again to combine. If you try to add the milk at the same time as creamed honey, the honey will be tricky to mix in and the milk will probably splash out of the bowl.

Step 4: sift the dry ingredients into the bowl. If you end up with any bran in the sieve, simply turn it over to add the bran to the batter. Stir until about halfway mixed, then add any mix-ins like chocolate chips and fold to combine. This helps to prevent over-mixing.

Step 5: let the dough hydrate while the oven is preheating, then transfer to greased or lined muffin cups. Note that the muffins will be slightly smaller if you don’t line the cups, and that muffin tins are unfortunately not standardised. I use a retractable ice cream scoop to transfer batter for muffins and I highly recommend it.

Step 6: bake until lightly golden, for the first five minutes at a high temperature before reducing for the remaining 15 minutes or so. These are fairly small muffins and you won’t get very high domes. That’s due to using a whole grain flour type.

Expert Tips for the Best Muffins

• Mash the bananas very well: you can even use an immersion blender to mix the wet ingredients (not once the dry ingredients have been added). Incorporating the bananas into the batter without big lumps makes for a more even sweetness and banana flavour, without chunks of banana that always get an unpleasant (slimy) texture after the first day.
• Don’t over-mix: you’ll notice that the oven isn’t preheated until after the muffin batter is already mixed, and that’s to allow it to hydrate for a few minutes. That means that a few lumps are completely fine. Over-mixing makes for dense, rubbery muffins.
• Weigh your ingredients: this is always good practice, but invaluable if you’re milling your own flour. Freshly milled flour has a much greater volume than store-bought, which is always compressed, and your baking ratios will be way off if you try to measure with cups.
• Mill finely: if you are milling your own einkorn flour for this recipe, use just about the finest setting available on your mill. I use a komo and have it turned almost all the way to the left when milling for sweet baking like this.

More Einkorn Flour Recipes

• Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Einkorn Pancakes
• Einkorn Bread
• Einkorn Sourdough Bread