Banana Oat Muffins

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

These muffins don't have anything to do with my parents' anniversary, but since I didn't get stamps this week to send them their anniversary card, I need to say it here.  Thanks for setting such a great example for us!  I love you SO much!

And now for some healthy muffins.

I felt very good about serving these to some of the teachers yesterday.  I guess I'm never too worried about how healthy something is, but I was proud of the substitutions I made in this recipe to make it healthier for us.  I used whole wheat flour, and in these I used applesauce instead of vegetable oil--a substitution that can always be made. 

A note about the bananas: If you're not going to eat all your bananas and they're getting too ripe, unpeel them and stick them in the freezer.  They're perfect for banana breads and muffins.  I pulled mine from the freezer, they defrosted in minutes, and they tasted great in this recipe. 

It yields 12 regular sized muffins or 36 mini-muffins.  I went with the mini-muffins, and they were yummy. 

Banana Oat Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil (or applesauce!)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 400.  In a bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate large bowl, beat the egg lightly.  Stir in the milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla.  Add the mashed banana, and combine thoroughly.  Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined.  Line muffin tin with paper cups or spray with cooking spray.  Divide the batter among them.  For regular muffins, bake for 18-20 minutes.  For mini-muffins, bake 11-13 minutes.