Banana Oat Blender Muffins

I was looking for a nutritious snack for afternoons when I’m starting to get hungry, but there is still a long time before dinner! I’ve made various other recipes in the past, and a lot of them have almond or peanut butter. Nothing wrong with these, and I will still make these sort of recipes as well. However, this time I was looking for something without the nut butter. I found a oat blender muffin recipe online that looked good, and then tweaked if just a little to fit my needs. These are now a favorite in the house! Easy to make, nutritious and tasty. Exactly what I was looking for.

I like that they use oats for the flour. Great source of complex carbs, fiber and some protein. Naturally sweetened with bananas, and then yogurt for more protein. The original recipe calls for 2-3 tbs honey. I have used both maple syrup and honey and either works well. I have also made them without any added sugar, just the banana for sweetness, and this is what I prefer. I wanted these to have minimal added sugar, and found that I can do without any. They’re not overly sweet this way so if you’d like to add a few tablespoons that is reasonable as well. It’s up to you and your taste preference.

The original recipe also called for these to be baked at 400 degrees which I found to be a bit hot. I cut down to 350 and baked a few extra minutes. I prefer it this way.

Finally, the recipe does call for a full cup of Greek yogurt. A few times when making this I didn’t have a lot of yogurt left, so I did a combo of milk and yogurt. One time I even did milk, water and yogurt and this worked out fine too! Just a little less rich. (I used a little water because one day I was running low on both yogurt and milk… it happens…. )

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Banana Oat Blender Muffins
Adapted from Well Plated
Ingredients

• 2 cups (160 grams) old fashioned oats

• 2 large bananas (about 200 grams) very ripe

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup (227 grams) plain Greek yogurt (or a mix of plain yogurt and milk works as well)

• 1-2 tablespoons (20-40 grams) honey or maple syrup, optional

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-cup standard muffin tin.

Place all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend or process on high, stopping to scrape down and stir the ingredients if needed, until the batter is smooth and the oats have broken down almost completely; a couple of minutes.

Transfer batter to prepared muffin tin. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool for at least 5-10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Small Batch Blueberry Muffins

It has been a long several months since I’ve baked myself a Sunday morning breakfast. It’s one of my favorite things to do so I am so glad to be able to do it again! Last week I saw a yummy looking small-batch muffin recipe pop up on Instagram that looked like the perfect thing to try in the new kitchen. The original recipe is for blueberry muffins. I didn’t have fresh blueberries, and while the author of the recipe doesn’t recommend substituting, I did anyways with great success! I looked through the pantry and settled on dried cherries with white chocolate chunks and thought it was delicious. I am excited for blueberry season though. I’m going to find the best blueberries I can and make this recipe again with them. Can’t wait!

The original blog post on Hummingbird high has TONS of tips, tricks and recommendations regarding these muffins. If you want to get into the nitty gritty then follow the link to her blog. I’m not going to recap it here.

These muffins baked up so beautifully! I love a huge, bakery style muffin, and this is it. I like the small batch aspect as that works better for my life. Hummingbird high also has this recipe in a non-small batch form if interested. In the full batch version she does call for a small amount of almond flour (1/2 cup total, with 2 cups all purpose flour). She doesn’t call for that in this small-batch recipe, but states that you can replace 1/4 cup of the all purpose flour with almond flour which would be a nice alternative. I may do this the next time I make these muffins.

I did use a different type of muffin tin that I’ve had for quite a while. It makes slightly larger muffins than usual, and it has a special well for a perfect muffin top. It worked great, although the muffin tops did stick a bit as the muffins cooled. I had to be very, very careful getting them out of the pan (and did have on casualty… see the photo). So make sure to oil/grease/butter your pans super well. And although the recipe developer specifically states that you shouldn’t line the muffin tins with liners, I probably will next time just so I don’t have to worry about sticking as much. The sugar you sprinkle on top of the batter makes everything even stickier than normal. You will still need to worry about the muffin tops sticking to the top of the pan however, so make sure to great the top of the muffin tins as well.

The author recommends making 4 muffins with this recipe, but I wanted HUGE, bakery style muffins so I only made 3 and they turned out great. I had to bake them just a few extra minutes. So although I haven’t tried them all, you can likely make 3, or 4, or even 6 (I actually saw someone make 6 on the Instagram post which initially inspired me) without any problem. Just adjust the baking time accordingly.

The final muffins are super tender and buttery. The interior is divine. The edges are all crispy and sugary thanks to the sprinkling of sugar on top. It is an amazing combination of contrasts and is absolutely delicious! I thought these were some of the best muffins I have ever made and and happy to have them in my repertoire for the future.

Highly recommended!

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Small Batch Blueberry Muffins
From Hummingbird High
Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups (5.65 ounces or 160 grams) all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• ¼ cup (2 ounces or 57 grams) whole milk, at room temperature

• ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• ½ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 grams) granulated sugar

• 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1 large egg, at room temperature

• 1 ¼ cups (6.5 ounces or 184 grams) fresh blueberries, at room temperature

• 4 teaspoons granulated white sugar, for topping

Directions
Make the muffin batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and the vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Beat on medium-high until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 2 to 3 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce the mixer to low and add the egg.

With the mixer still on low, add the the dry ingredients in three equal parts, alternating with the wet ingredients in two parts. Beat until just combined, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, then beat on low for an additional 30 seconds. Take half of the blueberries and crush them with your hands so they are juicy; add to the batter and increase the mixer speed to high for 5 to 10 seconds to encourage the berries to release their juices even more. Immediately reduce the mixer to low and add the rest of the berries, mixing until incorporated evenly throughout the batter, another 30 seconds.

Rest the muffin batter: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Prep your oven and pans: While the batter rests, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F using the convect setting (if possible). Prepare a muffin tin by spraying the inside and border of every other cavity in the muffin tin, a total of 4 cavities, generously with cooking spray. If you’re using a standard muffin tin, position the pan so that its short side faces you and prep the center cavity of the top row, the outer two cavities of the second row, and the center cavity of the third row. [note, I wanted even BIGGER muffins, so I actually only prepped 3 cavities for a total of 3 muffins]

Use a 1-tablespoon or 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop to fill each sprayed cavity with 6 tablespoons of the batter. Sprinkle the top of each cavity, aiming for the batter and avoiding the pan, with 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar each. Pour warm water into the outer cavities of the muffin tin’s final row, filling them at least ⅔ of the way up.

Bake the muffins. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes [since I made 3 muffins, instead of the 4 called for in the recipe, I had to bake mine a little longer. I can’t remember exactly how long, but somewhere in the 26-28 minute range. So if you make bigger muffins like I did, start checking around the 22-24 minute mark, and keep adding an additional 1-2 minutes at a time until they are done], or until the muffins are domed and golden brown around the edges. A skewer inserted into the center of a muffin should come out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool the muffins in their muffin tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then use an offset spatula to run underneath the edges of the blueberry muffin tops to prevent them from sticking in the pan. Be careful to just run the offset spatula under the edges—you don't want to accidentally cut into the muffin bottom and decapitate the muffin from its top!

After unsticking the muffin tops, keep cooling the muffins in the tins completely to room temperature. DO NOT TRY AND TURN THE MUFFINS OUT WHILE THEY ARE STILL WARM. Because these muffins are so top-heavy, you’ll run the risk of accidentally pulling the tops and bottoms apart if the cake is still warm! Wait until they are cooled completely before turning them out of the pan. Run the offset spatula underneath each muffin top once more and gently tilt the muffin upwards to turn it out of the pan, lifting each one from its base.

Serve and store. Serve warm, or at room temperature. The muffins are best on the day that they’re made,

Oat Flour Banana Carrot Muffins

I recently stumbled over this recipe for a simple and nutritions blender muffin. I had a carrot in the fridge, and bananas turning brown on the counter so it was almost like it was meant to be! I went to work putting it all together and am glad I did. These muffins turned out delicious; light and moist, full of whole grains, healthy fats, fresh fruit and fresh veggies. How great is that? They are also made with no wheat flour, and no dairy, so if you are avoiding either of those this is another plus. They are not vegan due to the 2 eggs, but you could always try a vegan egg replacement if this is something you care about. 

I followed the original recipe other than decreasing the honey just a bit from 1/4 c to 2 tablespoons and didn't miss it at all. The bananas themselves are nice and sweet. I also had a little freezer jam hanging out that I decided to add to the center of the muffin for a little sweet surprise! You can't see it in the picture, but it's there, I promise! It's a fun addition if you have some extra jam lying around. If you use peanut butter as your nut butter it'll turn these muffins into a "PB&J muffin"! Yum!

Oat Flour Banana Carrot Muffins
Adapted from Running with Spoons
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (120 grams) oats
• 2 tablespoon (14 grams) flaxseed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tbsp (96 grams) almond or peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons (40 grams) honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 medium bananas (200 grams or 1 cup)
• 1 cup (115 grams) shredded carrot, about 1 medium carrot

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin pan by lining the cavities with parchment paper liners or greasing them well with oil. Set aside.

Add all the dry ingredients (oats through salt) to a high-speed blender, and process on high until the oats have broken down into the consistency of a fine flour.

Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the carrots, and process on high until the batter becomes smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds. Periodically stop and scrape down the sides of your blender, if necessary. Transfer the batter to a medium-size mixing bowl and fold in the carrots by hand.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each one about 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 16 - 18 minutes, until the tops of your muffins begin to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Yields: 10 muffins
Approximate calorie count: 165 calories

Banana Rye Muffins

Is there such thing as too many banana bread recipes? Not in my book! Here it is - a perfectly simple and wholesome banana muffin recipe. Not fancy, but oh so good. Perfect with my morning coffee. I decided to switch things up a bit by mixing whole wheat and rye flours, as well as some whole oats for chew. Of course I had to add a little chocolate for a few pockets of sweetness. They baked up beautifully, and I have been enjoying them all week, I'm sure you will too!

Banana Rye Muffins
Adapted from Broma Bakery
Ingredients

• 2 extra ripe bananas (approximately 200 grams, or 1-1.25 cups)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons (25 grams) butter
• 2 tablespoons (25 grams) olive oil
• 2 tablespoons (25 grams) plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (120 grams) whole wheat flour
• 1/2 (60 grams) rye flour
• 1/2 cup (40 grams) old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 cup chocolate chunks

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 10 muffin tins with muffin liners, spray with non-stick baking spray, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk mashed banana, eggs, brown sugar, butter, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract until well combined.

Use a spatula to fold in both flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, mixing until combined. Fold chocolate in during the last few strokes of mixing.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins, they will be about 3/4 full. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then turn oven down to 375°F and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle has a few moist crumbs clinging to it, don't overbake as the end result will be dry. Remove from oven and allow to cool. 

Cranberry Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins

It may be January, but I have one last Christmas-y recipe to share. I am a big gingerbread fan (as you could probably already tell from the  Gingerbread Bundt Cake I made for my big family Christmas party) but it seems to be something that is only eaten at Christmas, so I have to try and fit in as many different recipes during December as I can. Since I'm such a huge muffin fan I couldn't resist a gingerbread muffin of course. I decided to fill it with dark chocolate and fresh cranberries, one of my favorite combinations. Along with some molasses, spices and a little butter, this blend of flavors packs the perfect punch of flavor that can be enjoyed all winter long. 

Nothing fancy in this recipe, just a lot of nice add in's and spices that can be customized to your tastes. Don't have any fresh cranberries, how about dried cranberries? Or dried cherries for that matter. Try switching out the dark chocolate with some white chocolate, or skip the chocolate + fruit combination and throw in some cinnamon chips. Whatever you like and have on hand. That's what I love so much about muffins, they are so easy to adapt. So go ahead, have some fun!

Cranberry Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins

Adapted from 

Sweet Phi

Ingredients

• ½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted (I've also replaced 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt and they still turn out great!)
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1¾ cups flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon all spice
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with liners. 

In a microwave safe bowl microwave butter for 30 seconds, then remove from microwave and add milk, molasses, egg and vanilla. Whisk until combined, it's ok if there are a few lumps.

In another bowl add all dry ingredients except the cranberries and chocolate. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir a few times, then add the cranberries and chocolate, mixing until everything is just combined, don't over-mix. Spoon batter into muffin liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool.

Yields: I got 10 medium sized muffins

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Growing up, my mom would often come home from the grocery store with a package of a dozen mini poppyseed muffins. They would go on the table along with whatever we were eating that night, and I would always eat two or three. I don't know why these particular muffins popped up every once in a while, all I know is that I sure enjoyed it when they did. It's been a while now since I had one of these muffins, they no longer make a regular appearance at our table, but I still have all the great memories. Because of these memories I've been eyeing this recipe for quite some time, but I never got around to making it. Every time I looked in the cookbook I would think about those grocery store muffins and wonder how these would compare. Well, I don't have to wonder anymore, a few weeks ago I got my answer.

I had an opened package of sour cream in my fridge that had to be used before it went bad and I had an urge to make some muffins. What else was I to do but to go to the store for a bag of lemons and get started on this long awaited recipe? To be honest, I didn't want to make the entire recipe, it looked huge and I didn't need that many muffins, but since the recipe had 5 eggs which can be difficult to halve, and I wanted to be sure they turned out perfectly, I decided to just do it and make the entire thing.

I was right, the recipe was huge. My mixing bowl was almost full with batter, and I think I ended up making 24 good size muffins. It was a fun recipe to make, the batter was so light, fluffy and lemony, the pale lemon of the batter a perfect contrast to the small black poppy seeds. While baking, they perfumed the entire kitchen with a divine sugary, lemony fragrance. Once out of the oven I got to brush the tops of each muffin with a sticky, lemon glaze to keep them moist and light. So the verdict? I thought they were fresh and delicious, and a wonderfully reminiscent of my old grocery store mini muffins, only better. I will be making them again for sure, but I'll probably try to halve the recipe to make the final muffin count a little more manageable.

 Most of the major players, ready to go

 Start with the butter and sugar

 Cream them together until really light and fluffy

 Then add in the eggs, one at a time

 Beat until well combined

 Mix together lemon zest and poppy seeds

 Add in the lemon juice

 Mix it into the butter mixture

 Then alternate adding the flour and sour cream, 

making sure not to overmix, otherwise they won't be 

as light and fluffy as they should be

 All mixed; that's what I call a bowl of batter!

 Fill up those muffin tins and bake

 Brush with the lemon glaze and let cool slightly, 

these muffins are best eaten warm or within 8 hours of baking

A beautiful fine crumb, lovely at a late breakfast

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Adapted from Amy's Bread

Ingredients

Muffins

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 1/2 cups (330 grams) sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1/3 cup poppy seeds
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla 
• 3 1/4 cup (460 grams) flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (235 grams) sour cream

Topping

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions

Line muffin cups with liners and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the eggs and mix until fully combined. In a small bowl, combine the poppy seeds, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Add to the butter mixture and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix slowly until almost combined. Then add all of the sour cream and mix until almost combined. Finish by mixing in the rest of the dry ingredients until barely moistened. Be very careful not to over mix the batter.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15-17 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Be very careful not to over bake the muffins or they will seem dry even though they are full of rich ingredients.

While the muffins are baking, combine the lemon juice and sugar in a small bowl to make a glaze. As soon as the muffins are removed from the oven, brush the glaze generously over each one to moisten. Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Sometimes it's best to just keep things simple. A bag of chocolate chips and a quick batter, mix them together and what do you get, only these amazing chocolate chip muffins! I love muffins for breakfast and I love them to include chocolate so these are perfect. They remind me of chocolate chip cookies in muffin form so I like to call them incognito chocolate chip cookies. Nothing out of the ordinary in this recipe, except for perhaps how good the finished product is. If you don't know what to have for breakfast tomorrow, don't blame me.

Honestly, this recipe takes about five seconds to put together. You get to melt the butter, and since it calls for a whole bag of chocolate chips, you don't even have to measure them out. I love it when that happens. Wet ingredients, dry ingredients, chocolate chips, mix them all together and pop them in the oven. In just a few minutes you have hot, fluffy muffins, loaded with chocolate and ready to devour.

Everything's all set

Add the wet to the dry

Mix it up, but not all the way

Add the chocolate!

Finish combining (don't over mix)

Into the muffin cups

A few more chippers on top for good measure

They're ready!

Chocolate Chip Muffins
From: Blogchef.net
Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup milk
• ½ cup butter (melted and cooled)
• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (11 ½ ounce) package milk chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with liners. In a large bowl mix together flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl stir together eggs, milk, butter and vanilla until well blended. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the milk mixture into the well and stir until well combined. Lightly stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into muffins cups or tins. Place into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.