With back to school time approaching, I was looking for ways to create new, fast, but healthy on the go breakfasts and snacks that my boys could eat on the drive to and from school. Their new school is a nut free school, so I needed to come up with a way to make a dense, healthy but nut free muffin. My solution was to replace the nuts and raisins we usually add to muffins with a mixture of flax seed, pumpkin seeds and coconut.

The nut-free muffins are still nutritious enough for breakfast with the addition of flax seed, pumpkin seeds and coconut.

Ingredients

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour*
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, lighty beaten
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 5 overripe bananas, mashed (about 2 1/3 cups)
• 1/4 cup flax seeds, partially ground in coffee mill
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, partially ground
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
  *if you have slightly less or more bananas, adjust the whole wheat flour up or down by 1/4 cup.

Instructions

1. In large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
2. In separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, and crushed banana.
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry.
4. Spoon into paper-lined muffin cups, filling two-thirds full.
5. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on wire racks.

Makes 20-24 muffins