Banana Oat Muffins

I got this recipe over at honeyandjam where she's got some very beautiful pictures of the muffins (much nicer stuff than what I can get with my iPhone). They're very hearty and not overly sweet or banana-y, which I like very much. Great for a quick morning breakfast - something I struggle with everyday! Although I've never tried this myself, you could, technically, mix the batter the night before, fill the muffin tin, cover and refrigerate over night and then just bake them off in the morning. I just baked them the night before and warmed them up in the morning. You could do that too.

They can be eaten plain or smeared with honey or jam or, my favorite, nutella! I topped my muffins with a few chocolate chips before baking instead of mixing it right into the batter. I didn't want there to be too many chocolate chips that they overpowered the banana flavor. But if you like your banana muffins chocolaty, I suggest mixing about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips into the batter before filling the muffin tin.

Banana Oat Muffins (with Chocolate Chips)
makes exactly 12 muffins

adapted slightly from honeyandjam

1 cup all-purpose flour*
0.5 cup whole wheat flour*
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup veggie oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas
up to 1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

• Preheat oven to 400F.
  
• In a medium bowl combine: flours, oats, sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• In a large bowl combine: egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add bananas and mix thoroughly.
  
• Add flour mixture into banana mixture in batches, about 3, until just combined. If using chocolate, add them now and mix until evenly distributed.
  
• Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups (or grease with cooking spray). Fill to the top with the batter. Should be just enough batter for 12 muffins.
• Bake 18-20 minutes until tops are browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool slightly in the tin about 5 minutes then turn out and cool completely.

Happy baking!

*you can use just whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour or a combination of both like I did here. just remember to keep it at 1.5 cups total of flour.