Banana Oat Muffins

I love banana muffins! I mean, who doesn’t?! All the banana goodness with a sweet, crumbly topping – brb while I go bake another batch!

As you may know, gluten free baking can result in a pretty dense product. These muffins are still a touch more dense than fully glutenized muffins (yeah, I made that up), but the mix of gluten free flour with the oats helps make these muffins more tender and fluffy.

Traditional baking instructions will tell you to mix the dry ingredients together first, then mix the wet ingredients separately, and combine. But for some reason, I do banana muffins differently. There’s something about starting with the banana base and building it up from there that makes me prefer this method that I’m sharing with you!

While warm, fresh from the oven muffins make a great breakfast, they also make a perfect snack for any time! And bonus – these muffins aren’t THAT bad for you. Bananas, oats, flax, and coconut oil are all great ingredients to give your traditional muffins a healthy, and tasty, boost. (P.S. I won’t tell the kids the muffins are [almost] healthy if you won’t!)

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INGREDIENTS

Muffins

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 1/2 cups gluten free oats (quick cooking)
• 1 1/4 cups gluten free flour (1:1 flour blend)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed stirred into 3 tablespoons of water)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil melted – about 20 seconds in the microwave (or vegetable or canola oil)
• pinch of nutmeg

Topping

• 1/2 cup gluten free oats (quick cooking)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegan, soy free butter melted (I use Earth Balance soy free butter)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, make flax egg and set aside. (Mix together 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons water.)
3. In a large bowl, mash the bananas.
4. Add in sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, cream of tartar, vanilla, and coconut oil. Stir until well combined.
5. Add in the flax egg. Stir batter until combined.
6. Add in oats and flour. Stir until just combined – do not over mix.
7. Divide evenly into 12 muffins in a greased muffin tin. (optional – use muffin liners)
8. In another bowl (sorry for all the dishes!), mix together the topping ingredients. Spoon the topping evenly over the 12 muffins.
9. Place the pan in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean.
10. Cool on a wire rack.
11. Pass ’em all around! Store any left over in an airtight container (if there are any!).

Whether muffins are your Saturday morning go-to, or just a once in a while treat, I hope you give this recipe a try! When you’re baking gluten free and vegan, it’s nice to have a staple muffin recipe to lean on – and if you’re like me, you probably have about a dozen bananas in the freezer that need to be used anyway!

Tag @lactating_coconuts on Instagram with a photo of your banana oat muffins!