Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Banana Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Back in December, I told you about the Pumpkin Bran Muffins that I made for the day after Thanksgiving: I liked the texture, but wasn't happy with the flavor, presumably because I didn't put in the full amounts of spices.  Well, I'm sad to report that after trying them a second time and sticking to the recipe, I'm still not happy with the taste.  Hubby and the munchkin also didn't love them, so I need to find a new pumpkin muffin recipe!

The next stop is Sweet + Natural.  She has 2 pumpkin muffin recipes: the first one, Spiced Pumpkin Honey Muffins, looks delicious but has more sugar (honey) than I'm looking for in a muffin recipe.  Her Pumpkin Banana Oat Muffins, on the other hand, have less sugar and have the added benefit of more fruit, flax seeds (go omega-3's!), and oats!  Since I like muffins to be a truly wholesome snack, not a dessert, my choice of which to try first was easy.

And overall, these were a success!  They are moist, flavorful, and hardy, although in my opinion the banana was a stronger flavor than the pumpkin (which is why I changed the name around), so I don't quite have a pumpkin muffin recipe yet.  This was my first time cooking with flax seed meal, and I'm so excited to have a good recipe.  The only thing I might change is to use quick cooking oats (I used rolled) because the oats did stay a little crunchy, but they also add some texture which isn't a bad thing.  Hubby, who is generally opposed to all things pumpkin, said that they are good but he'd probably like them even better if they had raisins or nuts in them - he's a fan of muffins that are filled with "stuff" :)  But he can stick to his favorite granola muffins if he wants because the munchkin and I are gobbling these up just the way they are!



Banana Pumpkin Oat Muffins
adapted from Sweet + Natural

Dry Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oats
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

"Wet" Ingredients
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup flax seed meal
2/3 cup maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 375.  Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  In a separate, larger bowl whisk together "wet" ingredients (flax seed meal isn't really wet, but for some reason it goes in that bucket!) until well blended.  Add dry ingredients to large bowl and stir until just combined. 

Fill each muffin cup to be about 3/4 full, and bake 15 minutes for mini-muffins and 20 minutes for regular muffins.

Makes approx 30 mini or 15 regular muffins (I got 24 mini + 3 regular)

6 comments:

  1. I'm right behind you on the muffin wagon. I'll be trying these as soon as I have 2 extra ripe bananas!

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  2. A few weeks back I overbought bananas and when a bunch were really ripe, I peeled them and stuck them in the freezer in a plastic bag...for these muffins I just defrosted 2 in the microwave and they were perfect! I highly recommend having frozen ripe bananas for urgent muffin needs ;)

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  3. Hmm...may need to try these for Thursday! Thanks, Alissa!

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  4. I know this an old post, but I wanted to let you know I googled "Pumpkin Oat Muffins" & found your site. I tried this recipe with a few changes & it turned out great!

    Change #1) I too dislike a banana taste in muffins that aren't banana muffins, so I substituted 1/2 C of unsweeten apple sauce instead of the bananas.
    Change #2) I can't afford to use maple syrup in my baking (Grade B is $18 a bottle!), so I used honey instead.
    Change #3) I prefer to use flax meal instead of eggs in my baking so I substituted 2 T flax seed & 6 T hot water (let sit for a few minutes before adding to the other ingredients) for the eggs.

    Anyway, like I said, they turned out great, thanks for the recipe! :)

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  5. Thanks for the tips! I have also made these with agave if you can find that at a more affordable price. I think I will try your suggestion about the apple sauce - either that or I'm contemplating trying to turn these into a purely banana muffin - will update if I find another good combination :)

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  6. These were just delicious! Not too sweet, and so nutritious! Definitely will pass this recipe onward.

    For anyone who's curious, the flax seed goes in with the wet because it's a substitute for butter.

    Happy baking!

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