Mango Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

Last weekend I bought a box of 7 mangoes at a local Asian supermarket United Noodles.  All 7 ripened at the same time.  Not a problem – we love mangoes.  We ate them fresh, we made kid-friendly Mango Salsa and…we made wonderful Mango Blueberry Breakfast Muffins with kidney beans!

These are excellent breakfast muffins – not overly sweet. Serve them with a side of fresh fruit. You can’t tell there are beans in these muffins – really, I promise!

Mango Blueberry Breakfast Muffins
Recipe by Striving Bean

Since these are made with beans, store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Makes 18 muffins.

• 2 1/2 cups (2.5 cups) cooked* kidney beans (made from dried -
  see my video How to Cook Beans)
• 1/3 cup (0.33 cup) “lite” coconut milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup (0.25 cup) brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup (0.25 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 /3 cup (0.66 cups) unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3  cup  (0.33 cup) flaked sweetened coconut (and additional 3 tablespoons for topping)
• 1 1/2 cup (1.5 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cup (1.25 cup) frozen blueberries (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups (1.5 cups) finely chopped fresh mangoes (about 1  large or 2-3 small to medium mangoes)
• 5 tablespoons finely chopped macadamia nuts for topping

*1 cup dry kidney beans makes about 2.5 cups cooked (this is what I used) OR
* If you try canned kidney beans, but make sure to drain and rinse well.  2.5 cups is about 2 cans (15 oz. each). You will have some canned kidney beans left over.  You can freeze the left-overs.  See How To Freeze Beans.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

In food processor or blender, purée beans and coconut milk until smooth (scrape down sides as needed).

In a large bowl, beat sugars and butter; beat in eggs, applesauce, flaked  coconut, and vanilla. Add bean mixture, mixing until well blended.

Gently fold in mangoes in.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda. (It’s important to mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. This will better distribute the baking powder and baking soda, which helps the muffins rise.)

Then gently fold the flour mixture into the bean/mango mixture.

Using an ice cream scooper, spoon batter into (18) paper-lined muffin cups.  Fill each cup nearly to the top.

Gently press in, with your finger, 3 frozen blueberries for each muffin. Sprinkle with flaked coconut and chopped macadamia nuts.

Bake muffins 18 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Rotate 1/2 way through cooking time. Cool in muffin pan on wire racks 10 minutes.  Then gently remove muffins from pans and allow to cool completely.

Important – allow to cool completely, otherwise they will be messy.

Storage: Individually wrap the muffins and store in refrigerator or freezer.  Reheat from refrigerator: 10 seconds in microwave. Reheat from freezer: 25 – 30 seconds in microwave.

Our family weighs in:

• Son said “It’s great!” And cried when I said he could have more after dinner (he wanted more right away).
• Daughter liked them.
• I they’re terrific and make for a great breakfast.
• Husband liked them, but “a little extra sugar would make them over the top!” (a good thing).

I’m going to tuck this recipe away and make a different version some day.  Oh the possibilities…

In case you’re curious about the nutritional information:  I ran this recipe through Spark People Recipe Calculator and came up with this:  (give or take a little – I forgot to account for the 3 tablespoons coconut topping)

Calories     198.3
Total Fat     6.1 g
Protein     4.1 g
Total Carbohydrate     32.5 g
Sugars     14.9 g
Dietary Fiber     3.4 g
Cholesterol     34.1 mg
Iron     6.9 %
Sodium     162.9 mg (I used “cooked from dried” beans, not canned beans)
Calcium     3.4 %

It’s pretty comparable to these Cooking Light Tropical Muffin recipe – but bean muffins have more fiber and iron, of course!  I’m guessing I could easily lighten up this Mango Blueberry Breakfast Muffins recipe by using more applesauce vs. butter, and using fewer macadamia nuts.  It’s likely easily done.

Do you want a good scare?  Compare these breakfast muffins against Starbuck’s Blueberry Struesel Muffin.  Bean muffins are looking pretty good now, aren’t they? (grin)

So – What do you think about muffins with beans?

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