Plantain Oat Muffins with Peanut Butter Morsels

Coming from the Caribbean, Plantain was something we had with most meals, and in different forms, and stages of maturity. The ripe plantain was baked or boiled, and the green ones used to make chips. Aside from being served as a starchy accompaniment to a main meal, it also found its way into deserts such as Plantain Tarts. I have used the ripe ones before in another type of breakfast muffin but with this recipe, I decided to combine it with peanut butter morsels as I thought the flavors would go nicely together. They do! These are moist, and made a bit sweeter by the natural sugar in the ripe plantain.

Ingredients

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar(use one with a strong caramel/toffee flavor e.g. Piloncillo, Panela, Coconut)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup half and half

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mashed baked, Plantain (see below)

1/3 cup peanut butter morsels

Directions

1. Combine flour, oats, peanut butter morsels, baking powder, spices, soda, and salt.
2. Bake a medium sized very ripe plantain as follows. Cut the ends off, and make a slit lengthwise on the skin. Place on a baking tin with a rack and bake at 425 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes or until the skin is black and blistered and the color of the plantain flesh exposed is golden brown. Remove from oven, mash well with a fork. Mix in the lime juice and set aside to cool.  
3. Mix sugar, vanilla and half and half together in a small saucepan. Bring to a slow boil until the sugar has dissolved. The mixture will thicken slightly and take on a chocolate color. Set aside to cool.
4. In a large bowl, beat the egg and oil until pale in color. Stir in the cooled milk mixture, and plantain. Combine thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Divide the batter between 12 Jumbo sized cup muffin liners (or 14 regular sized).
5. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18 to 20 minutes.

Oat Bran Chocolate Chip Breakfast Muffins

These are dense, fairly moist breakfast sized muffins. I guess they are relatively healthy because of the oat bran and flax meal. On the other hand, they taste so good that it's easy to eat a lot of them at one sitting. The addition of the shredded apple keeps them moist but I freeze them and reheat using a microwave.

½ cup dark brown sugar

1 1/4 cups oat bran

¼ cup Flax meal

¾ cup all purpose flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

Juice of ½ lime

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

½ cup plain unsweetened Greek style yogurt

2 tablespoons Maple Syrup (100%, good quality)

1 tablespoon molasses

1 Granny Smith apple, finely grated

1 1/4 cup half and half

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup chocolate chips ( peanut butter or butterscotch morsels may also be used)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Blend together chocolate chips, oat bran, flour, flax meal, baking powder, spices, soda, and salt.

Whisk eggs, maple syrup, molasses, yogurt, brown sugar, half and half, and vegetable oil. Add lime juice and shredded apple. Mix until well-blended.

Add dry to wet mixture, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into 15 muffin cups. Let stand 5 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

Plantain Oat Bran Breakfast Muffins

These are large size breakfast muffins that are packed full of oat bran. I have used brown sugar with a caramel taste and supplemented this with maple syrup and molasses. Plantains are like bananas except they are larger, and have to be cooked before eating. They have their own unique flavor. I use very ripe plantains as they are at their most flavorful and sweetest at that point. Their flavor goes well with cinnamon and allspice.

1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup oat bran

1⁄3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon Maple Syrup

1 tablespoon Molasses

1 rounded tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

3/4 cup half and half (or milk)

¼ cup Greek style yogurt, plain and unsweetened

1⁄4 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 large, very ripe Plantain, baked and mashed

1/3 cup dried cranberries (butterscotch morsels compliment the plantain flavor best but obviously carry a lot more calories)

Juice of 1 lime

1. Preheat oven to 400F; grease 12 large muffin cups or use muffin liners. Bake the ripe plantain as shown below for about 15-20 minutes.

It is done when a knife inserted in it meets no resistance. Remove from oven, discard peel, mash with a fork and cover with the lime juice.

2. Combine flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside.

3. Put half and half or milk, sugar, dried cranberries, maple syrup, molasses, and vanilla in medium saucepan and heat slowly until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a simmer them set aside to cool. Whisk cooled mixture with egg, yogurt and oil until frothy. Whisk in the mashed plantain.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring just until combined being careful not to overmix.

5. Divide batter evenly among large size muffin cups (I'm horrible at this).

6. Bake about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into centers of muffins comes out clean.

7. Transfer to rack to cool.