Tropical Muffins

I think this is probably the most delicious albeit strangest recipe I have ever used. I remembered way back when I used a similar recipe in one of my "Best of the Best" 'meat filled' cookbooks, and was later reminded by my sister in law of an alternate one using dates. So, I concocted this bad boy this morning, and I have already eaten about 4 muffins (good thing they are not too bad calorie wise). See my puppy Popeye in the photo :)

Ingredients (makes about 14 muffins):
1 big orange (the whole thing, peel and all) (make sure it is seedless, you can also use 4 small oranges, such as mandarin or clementine)
1/2 cup orange juice (you could try mango juice too, I'll bet that would be delicious)
1/4 cup of canola or vegetable based oil
1 banana (make sure it is ripe)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use all purpose, but this boosts the fibre)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (I have yet to try the whole recipe with all brown sugar. Will post the results when I do)

Optional ingredients:
1/2- 1 cup cup coconut
1/2- 1 cup walnuts
1/2- 1 cup of cranberries

1) Blend orange pieces, juice, oil and banana in a blender (until all ingredients are liquefied).
2) In a bowl, mix all other ingredients together (including any of the optional ingredients).
3) Bake in muffin liners at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes. Enjoy!