Banana Oat Muffins

Muffins are a great on the go breakfast…especially when we are running late for school (which I must confess is most mornings!).  These little muffins pack a nutritional punch and a lot of delicious flavor into one small package.  They are naturally gluten free and could be made egg free too (just substitute 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water).  I used a combination of whole rolled oats and oat flour (which I made in my Vitamix in about 3 seconds!) to give the muffins a heartier texture as well as a combination of coconut oil and coconut palm sugar to give them a sweet coconut flavor.  The addition of Greek yogurt helps lower the fat and boost their protein content.  You can even add in 1/2 cup of shredded carrots or summer squash to sneak in some veggies!

I decided to bake them in mini muffin cups…which look adorable and make for a simple clean up (no muffin tin required!).

Banana Oat Muffins

1 ¼ cup organic rolled oats

½ cup plain, organic Greek yogurt

½ cup organic almond milk

1½ cups organic oat flour (you can buy this or make it in the blender from whole oats – process into a powdery consistency)

½ cup organic coconut palm sugar

1-teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1-teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

2 large, really ripe bananas mashed

1 lightly beaten egg

Preheat oven to 400°

In a medium bowl, mix together oats, yogurt and milk and let stand for about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl combine oat flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl.

Add mashed banana, coconut oil and to the rolled oat/yogurt mixture and mix well.

Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix until combined.

Fill mini muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 15 minutes.