Banana Oat Muffins
These Banana Oat Muffins are 100% whole grain and gluten free. With ingredients like oats, bananas, coconut oil and agave nectar, they are a healthier choice for a sweet treat.
If there is one thing I know about my husband, it is that he loves sweets. And since we are trying to cut down on processed foods and added sugars, I thought a good place to start was breakfast. When we are craving something sweet, these muffins are a great alternative to sugary cereals. Bonus: they last at least a week in the fridge (and freeze well too), so they are great for a quick, on-the-go breakfast.
I looked through several banana muffin recipes for inspiration, but found they all included extremely processed ingredients like vegetable oil, butter, white flour, and white sugar. So I challenged myself to replace these ingredients with more wholesome options. Not to brag, but I think they turned out pretty amazing. With or without walnuts, and even with the addition of blueberries.
Why are these Banana Oat Muffins healthier?
First off, I swapped white flour for homemade oat flour. No, you don’t have to make it yourself. And yes, you could use almond flour or whole wheat flour instead. But it only takes a few seconds, and I feel good knowing that it is 100% whole oats, simply ground in my food processor. I have a small multi-function one like this, I can’t even tell you how often I use it!
Second, instead of using vegetable oil or butter, which pretty much every recipe called for, I decided to try coconut oil. I thought the flavors would go well together, and they did! It’s not overpowering, either.
And lastly, white sugar is something we try to avoid, although it seems impossible sometimes. Since it is already hidden in everything, I certainly try my best not to add it into any of my recipes. For this reason, these muffins rely solely on bananas and natural sweeteners like agave nectar. Honey is also a great option, I typically use whichever I have in the pantry.
Banana Oat Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tin or muffin cups
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas* mashed with a fork
- 1 tbsp coconut oil melted if necessary
- 2 tbsp agave nectar or honey
- ½ cup milk of choice I used skim milk, but you can use your favorite
- 1 large egg
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup rolled oats
- ⅔ cup homemade oat flour* or flour of choice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts* optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º
- Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. (oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder)
- Combine wet ingredients in a separate medium bowl and stir together. (Bananas, milk, egg, vanilla, oil, and agave.)
- Add dry mixture and any add ins (walnuts, etc) into the bowl with the wet mixture. Stir until combined.
- Use muffin cups or spray muffin tin with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Pour mixture into each cup. For larger muffins, you may choose to make 9 muffins instead of 12.
- Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Notes
