Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins | brunch recipes | baking recipes | healthy recipes | BearandBugEats.com

I have a strained relationship with mornings. Most of the problem is that, like most twenty-somethings, I don’t get enough sleep. But even when I do, I move at snail speed before about 10 AM. In one getting-up-early experiment, it took me 30 minutes to eat a bowl of cereal. (That particular experiment was short-lived.)

Given that, hot breakfast isn’t really a weekday thing for me; I usually do well just to eat a bowl of Cheerios. These Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins are a great way to get some fiber into you on your way out the door.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins | brunch recipes | baking recipes | healthy recipes | BearandBugEats.comThe recipe that I adapted was more like oatmeal baked into a muffin shape than an actual muffin. I liked them, but I was interested in a) created a more muffin-y texture and b) using the bananas I had going bad on top of the fridge. The results still very oaty, but more like a muffin stuffed with oats than baked oatmeal.

This recipe also taught me that pumpkin pie spice is good for more things than pumpkin pie! Even better, you can easily make your own. I used this Betty Crocker recipe and poured it into an empty spice container. I got almost a whole container of pumpkin pie spice and a feeling of accomplishment for, oh, two minutes’ work.

Notes

Resist the urge to use all 12 muffin cavities! Because these are mostly made of oats, they’ll develop nice tops but won’t really puff up.

You could make these gluten-free pretty easily by using a gluten-free oats and flour (I recommend almond meal), or vegan by using an egg substitute.

Muffin "batter"

The chocolate chips are rather decadent; you could reserve these for sprinkling on the top, or remove them altogether to reduce sugar (but come on. Try them at least once). They are fairly sweet, but they are also dense with fiber–each one has over a quarter cup of oats! That definitely makes them a decent breakfast in my mind. Especially if you warm them up a little before you head out the door. Mmmm.

What about you? What do you reach for when you’re running out the door in the morning?

Adapted from Averie Cooks.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

  • Prep Time: 0 hours
  • Cook Time: 0 hours
  • Total Time: 0 hours

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium-large banana)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 cups whole rolled oats (the regular old-fashioned kind)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, dusted with flour (mini are, to my mind, better proportioned for these, and the flour helps them not sink in the oat batter)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour the pan in 11 of the cavities.
  2. To a large bowl, add the first 9 ingredients (through optional salt), and whisk to combine.
  3. Add the oats, flour, baking powder, and stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. The batter will be wet; don’t worry about it.
  4. Evenly distribute the “batter” into the 11 cavities. Each cavity will be basically full, since muffins don’t rise much. You can also take this opportunity to gently shape the tops a bit with a spoon.
  5. Bake for about 23 minutes, or until a toothpick stabbed into a muffin comes out clean. Remove from pan to cool on a wire rack.

The Burroughs

Katie and Robby Burroughs, writers, photographers, and curators of Bear and Bug Eats.

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