Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One-Hundred Seventy-Six (Blizzard Blues: Spelt Blueberry Banana Muffins)

Blizzard Blues.

Experiencing a major blizzard in coastal Maine is a different experience than in the Big Apple. 

In Maine, Tim would have shoveled the drive and walkway, shoveled them again, shoveled them again, loaded wood in the woodstove, and we all would have hunkered down to stay snug in the house all day.  I probably would have baked something too. 

In NYC, we had no shoveling (except for digging a car out), have no woodstove, and had tickets to see Blue Man Group.  So, we hailed a cab, met some friends, and went to a very bizarre off-Broadway production.  A little loud for my taste.

But, the habits of Maine linger.  So before embarking on the Blue Man adventure, I felt compelled to make blueberry muffins– appropriate for a snowy blue-themed day.

Problem #1, there was no organic sugar in the house, and I was not about to use bleached white sugar, nor was I going to pay $7.99 for a pound and half of organic sugar at our local grocery store.

 

Spelt Blueberry Banana Muffins with Honey

Problem #2, we had very few blueberries, and as with the organic sugar, I was not going to pay triple for the convenience of buying them in our neighborhood.

Solution #1: create a recipe with honey

Solution #2: use blueberries in combination with some other fruit we have in the house: bananas!!

Here is a recipe for Blueberry-Banana Spelt Muffins – made especially to prevent stormy day blues, and to keep you from going bananas.

Blueberry-Banana Spelt Muffins – with no sugar

1 and 1/4 cups white spelt flour

1 cup whole spelt flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 TBL baking powder

1 cup buttermilk (made with 1 tbl fresh lemon juice and 1 cup milk, mixed and set aside for 10 minutes)

7 TBL honey

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup blueberries

1 and 1/2 ripe bananas

Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  In a larger bowl (I used the Kitchenaid), combine all the other ingredients, except the blueberries, and mix the dry into the liquid until blended.  Stir in the blueberries. 

Scoop enough batter to fill the muffin pans 3/4 way either lined with muffin papers or in well oiled muffin pans.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.