Healthy Banana/ Apple Oat Muffins

Plot Once upon a time there was a girl. She really wanted banana muffins. All day long she watched chefs on Sorted Food and Martha's Kitchen make apple fritters, banana breads, pear tarts and churros. Wait!, she thought. Banana! Apple! Cinnamon! Walnuts! BOOM, An inspiration to create a banana muffin recipe was born. Plot twist, that girl is me. 

BUT, a nightmare for any cook, there was no butter, sugar, milk or flour in the house. I wasn't gonna wait till the next day. I needed to smell that warm cinnamon wafting through the kitchen, that crunchy taste of toasted walnuts and pillowy feeling of golden banana goodness. So, what do I do? I find my dad's huge Costco size oats lying in the back pantry, my sister's last drops of almond milk in the fridge and of course, another big tub of my dad's coconut oil. 

Really, the magic formula for any muffins are, some sorta sweetness + starch + milk of some sort + texture + fat. And waddya know, I happened to have all of it. So now all that I had to do was research a bunch of recipes and then create my own. After that day in June 2015, I have been making these muffins almost every other week. obsessed? OBSESSED!

The best part about this recipe is that you don't have to feel bad about it after eating 1....2...5 or the whole batch BECAUSE, if you look at the recipe, this is pretty dang good for you. Still not sure if you should make these? If you say yes to ANY of these questions, then go to your pantry right after you read this post and thank me for blessing you with one of the most glorious creations. So if you...

1. are in a rush almost all the time
2. really love banana bread or apple pie 
3. love the smell of pumpkin pie spice in your kitchen
4. need a filling snack during the day 
5. just simply loves muffins

THEN WHATCHA WAITING FOR....?

Eat two in the morning for breakfast and they'll keep you full for at least a few hours. My sister, Ava, and I always have one in the morning and for snack. SO GOOD. Last thing, this recipe is SUPER versatile. If you don't wanna use oat flour, just use plain flour. coconut oil = butter. almond milk = soy/ dairy milk. honey = sugar. YOU GET THE POINT?!? Ok let me stop talking so you can stop drooling over the sound of these and go make your own! 

Healthy Apple/ Banana Oat Muffins
(click on title to print PDF recipe) 

​Ingredients:
Batter:
2/3 cup mashed banana (around 2-3 small bananas) or apple sauce
1 cup chopped banana (around 2 small bananas) or apple (around 2 small apples)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup milk of any kind
¼ cup honey
5 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup oat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp kosher salt
½ cup chopped walnuts
 
Topping:
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup rolled oats
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp salt
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix together all the dry ingredients (with the chopped fruit). In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Combine with a spatula; do not over mix! Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners/ parchment paper and add a ¼ cup of the mix to each cup. Make your topping by mixing all the ingredients together. Add around a tsp of topping on top of each muffin. Bake for 25 minutes until top has browned. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Muffins should seem “doughy”. Cool for 20 minutes and they should be fine. Serve by itself or with almond butter.