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,

Basic Pumpkin Muffins

I had a friend over a few weeks back to hang out and do some fall baking. We decided to bake something pumpkin-y. It was a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon at the beginning of fall so what could be better. I found a pumpkin bread recipe from Smitten Kitchen where she uses an entire can of pumpkin which is what I like, instead of a recipe that leaves you with 1/4 or 1/2 cup of pumpkin that you don’t know what to do with.

These muffins were super easy, as most muffins are, and baked up beautifully. I really loved the cinnamon sugar mixture sprinkled on top. Just a little something extra that makes them even more special. This is a super recipe that I would make over again and again, perfect when you need something pumpkin-y quickly, and don’t have time to browse through recipes, not that you would need to because these are perfectly simple and delicious.

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Pumpkin Bread or Muffins
From Smitten Kitchen
Bread/Muffins

• 1 15-ounce can (1 3/4 cups) pumpkin puree

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable or another neutral cooking oil or melted butter (115 grams)

• 3 large eggs

• 1 2/3 (330 grams) cups granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Heaped 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

• Heaped 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• Two pinches of ground cloves

• 2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour

To Finish

• 1 tablespoon (12 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 6-cup loaf pan or coat it with nonstick spray (alternatively you may make muffins see below).

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs and sugar until smooth. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnanmon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves over batter and whisk until well-combined. Add flour and stir with a spoon, just until mixed. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth the top. In a small dish, or empty measuring cup, stir sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over top of batter.

Bake bread for 65 to 75 minutes until a tester poked into all parts of cake (both the top and center will want to hide pockets of uncooked batter) come out batter-free, turning the cake once during the baking time for even coloring.

You can cool it in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove it, or cool it completely in there. The latter provides the advantage of letting more of the loose cinnamon sugar on top adhere before being knocked off.

Cake keeps at room temperature as long as you can hide it. I like to keep mine in the tin with a piece of foil or plastic just over the cut end and the top exposed to best keep the lid crisp as long as possible.

***You can also make this as muffins. It should make about 18 standard ones and you can distribute the cinnamon sugar (perhaps make 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon worth) across the tops before you bake them. They should bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

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

Brownie Batter Chocolate Oat Muffins

When it comes to breakfast, I love a good egg sandwich, avocado toast, or a delicious scramble full of peppers, mushrooms, sausage and cheese. However, where my heart truly lies, and what I really want every morning, is with a sweet breakfast. I just have a big old sweet tooth when it comes to breakfast (and really any time), and I will almost always choose a sweet breakfast over a savory one despite how good those savory breakfasts may be. (I usually just end up have a savory "breakfast" for dinner, problem solved!)

I especially love chocolate for breakfast. I don't think I really need to explain it any more than that. Chocolate. Breakfast. Enough said. But even though I love sweets for breakfast, I don't always feel good about eating them. These brownie batter muffins solve that problem. They are sweet and chocolatey, yet have some nutrition in them, and are not just empty calories. Yes, you can have the best of both worlds! 

These yummy little brownie batter muffins are easy to make. Really just need one bowl and some simple ingredients. I cut down on the maple syrup from the original recipe from 1/2 to 1/4 cup to make them a little healthier and I thought they were just fine. So naturally sweetened with the maple syrup if that's your kind of thing. I'm sure honey would be fine as well, or just regular white or brown sugar if that's all you have, although I have not actually tried this I bet it would be fine. There is some protein and healthy fat from the almond butter (yes peanut butter would work just fine too). And you can go ahead and add in anything else that floats your boat; chocolate chips or chunks, cocoa nibs, any nut you like, even some fresh or frozen berries, or dried fruit. Customize away, and enjoy!

Brownie Batter Chocolate Oat Muffins
Adapted from Running with Spoons
Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) milk
• 1/4 cup (75 grams) maple syrup
• 1/4 cup (64 grams) almond butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups (160 grams) old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup (60 grams) whole wheat flour or whole wheat rye flour
• 1/4 cup (20 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Cocoa nibs (optional)
• Chopped chocolate (optional)

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

In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg. Whisk in the milk, maple syrup, almond butter, and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the oats, flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder, and mix until well combined. Add the cocoa nibs and chocolate and give one more good stir to combine. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each until about 3/4 full. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Yields: 10 muffins
Approximate Calorie Count: 190 calories each
 

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. 

Mocha Zucchini Muffins

First things first, Happy Easter!

Christ the Lord is risen today.
All creation join to say. 
Raise you joys and triumphs high.
Sing ye heaven and earth reply. 

Love's redeeming work is done.
Fought the fight, the battle won.
Death in vain forbids him rise.
Christ has opened paradise.

What a glorious day! When I think about all I have in Christ I am continually blown away by what I have been given, not because of anything I have done, I can take credit in no way for my salvation, I believe because God first chose me. How humbling is this truth. 

I this beautiful day, full of celebration and new birth I was inspired to create something new and delicious out of something old. I've had a bag of shredded zucchini floating around in my freezer since last summer. I keep meaning to do something with it, but I always say "next time". Well, not this time! I found a new zucchini muffin recipe, adjusted it for what I wanted, and finished off last years produce, finally! This was the perfect way to do it too. A light and healthy whole grain muffin, lightly sweetened and filled with one of my favorite treats; chocolate covered espresso beans!!

When I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it. I didn't have a go-to zucchini muffin but this one looked promising, and I was right. It's just rich enough to make it special, but not too rich to make it feel overly indulgent. The original recipe calls for a streusel on top which would be marvelous, but I skipped it this time out of laziness, but did chop up a handful of dark chocolate espresso beans for pizzaz. And chocolate. Come on. 

The final product came out as beautiful as I had hoped. Flecked with green from the zucchini, and chocolate from the espresso beans. I added some espresso powder for a little extra mocha flavor, and probably could have added more (I think I'll try 1/2 teaspoon next time!). They turned out light and satisfying. A perfect zucchini muffin. 

Mocha Zucchini Muffins
Adapted from The Almond Eater
Ingredients

• 1 cup (120 grams) whole wheat flour
• 1-2 tablespoons (12-25 grams) brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) olive oil
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) milk
• 2 tablespoons (37 grams) maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup grated zucchini
• 1/4 cup chocolate covered espresso beans, roughly chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners, set aside

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and espresso powder in a bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and then add olive oil, milk, syrup and vanilla. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Add the zucchini, and stir until combined. 

Transfer the batter to the prepared muffin tin. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven, wait a few minutes for the muffins to cool before removing them from the tin.

Yields: 6 muffins

Buttery Bran Muffins

Back to basics this morning with a simple yet delicious bran muffin. Nothing fancy, nothing weird.  Start with some wheat bran (obviously) and whole wheat flour for healthy whole grains. Add in some Greek yogurt and butter, a little sugar and an egg and you're basically there. I love experimenting with new grains so I used spelt flour for these muffins but regular old whole wheat would also work. If you have some raisins hanging around go ahead and add those in for a nice raisin bran muffin. I didn't have any in the pantry so I skipped it this time and they were still wonderfully delicious and flavorful. 

These muffins bake up tall and beautiful, just how I like my muffins! They are very light and tender, I couldn't at all tell that they were 100% whole wheat. The flax and coarse sugar on top is just the finishing touch to really make these humble muffins shine. 

Buttery Bran Muffins
Adapted from Serious Eats
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (27.5 grams) wheat bran
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) boiling water
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) plain whole milk Greek yogurt
• 1 egg, cold
• 1 1/4 cup (170 grams) spelt or whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (75 grams) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch nutmeg
• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) golden raisins, optional
• Flaxseed and turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F (177°C). In a large measuring cup, combine wheat bran and boiling water. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir in Greek yogurt and egg. Meanwhile, combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is incorporated, then add bran mixture and continue only until the batter is well combined. With a flexible spatula, scrape the bowl and fold the batter once or twice to make sure it's well mixed from the bottom up, then fold in the raisins if using.

Divide the batter between 8 lightly greased muffin cups. This is enough to completely fill each cup with a little mountain of batter, but do not be alarmed; it will rise significantly but spread very little overall. If you like, sprinkle with flaxseed and turbinado sugar, and bake until puffed and firm, about 16-18 minutes. 

Yields: 8 muffins