Banana Oat Muffins

These muffins are not too sweet and use up those overripe bananas you may have sitting on your counter. You can add nuts, dried cranberries (or any dried fruit of your choosing), or chocolate chips, depending on how "bad" you want to be. 

¾ cup all purpose flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 egg

¾ cup milk

⅓ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mashed bananas

Juice of 1 lime

½ Granny Smith apple, cored, unpeeled, coarsely shredded

Combine flours, spices, oats, baking powder, soda, and salt.

Shred the apple, mix with the mashed banana, and lime juice. Set aside

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, sugar, oil, molasses, and vanilla. Add the mashed banana mixture, and combine thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups, and divide the batter among them.

Bake at 400 degrees F  for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in it comes out clean.

Banana Oat Quick Bread

This is a quick and delicious tea bread. It is exceptionally moist and freezes really well. It's the best banana bread I have developed and the addition of the coarsely shredded apple keeps it moist.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup oat bran

¼ cup flax meal

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

¼ cup Maple Syrup

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup rolled oats, Old Fashioned

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored, unpeeled

½ cup Greek style yogurt or sour cream

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large ripe bananas) plus the juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place oven rack to middle position. Line bottom with parchment paper and grease and flour sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan.

In a large bowl whisk together the flours, oats, flax meal, chopped nuts, oat bran, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Coarsely shred the cored, unpeeled apple and mix with the mashed bananas and lime juice. Discard any large pieces of apple peel that remain on shredding.

In a medium-sized bowl whisk the eggs, oil, yogurt, maple syrup, sugar, and vanilla until pale and smooth. With a wooden spoon, lightly fold in  the banana mixture, mixing well. Add all to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. Do not over-mix the batter.  Scrape batter into prepared pan, and level off the top with the spoon. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack. Cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

Zucchini Oatmeal Quick Bread

This is a very quick and easy bread to make. It can be toasted or not, and eaten with butter or cheese. The texture and density is that of a bread....it's not a cake!

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil (1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup oil may be used)

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup  brown sugar, unpacked

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1½ cups coarsely shredded zucchini (do not drain liquid). Add to this the juice of one lime.

3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.

Line bottom of standard loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour sides

Whisk flour, oats, salt, spices, baking soda, cranberries, baking powder, in another large bowl just to combine. Whisk eggs, oil, granulated sugar, maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add the shredded zucchini and lime juice to the egg mixture. Stir to combine. Add that to the flour and mix, using a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pans (it will be thick and dense)

Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50–60 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let bread cool in pans 15 minutes; turn out bread onto rack and let cool completely. Slice evenly to give 12 slices.