Blueberry banana muffins

At least once a summer, I get a craving for blueberry muffins. There's something about the way a blueberry bursts in a baked good, staining everything around it with that intense indigo hue. Sure, you'll end up with a purple tongue and the skins in your teeth when you're done, but it seems like a bit of minor inconvenience for something that tastes so good.

I decided to look around for a blueberry muffin recipe that was a little different from the ordinary. The classic combination of white flour, sometimes scented with lemon, is a classic, but I wanted something a bit heartier, and dare I say, healthier?

I stumbled across this recipe, and as I had some bananas going soft anyway, I picked up some wheat germ at the store and got started.

Here's the bowl of dry ingredients, wheat germ included.

Then, mix up the wet, and add in the eggs.

Mash those bananas!

And fold in the berries. These aren't the wild ones I like, but they are cultivated Canadian ones, so I didn't feel too awful about them. Plus, on sale at Farm Boy!

Filling up the muffin cups. A scoop makes this bit easy.

And here they are cooling in front of the window. What a great Sunday morning treat!

Healthy blueberry banana muffins (from Martha Stewart)

•1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
•3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
•1/4 cup wheat germ
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
•1/3 cup granulated sugar
•1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
•2 large eggs
•2 ripe bananas (about 1 pound)
•1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
•1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
•1 cup frozen blueberries

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.

2.In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.

3.With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.

4.Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.