Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Oat Muffins

I was talking to my neighbor about different flours and such and she mentioned how she likes oat flour.  Its light and not as heavy as whole wheat flour.  So, on my most recent trip to Whole Foods I went ahead and got some.  Although there are plenty of sites that say you can make your own by just grinding whole oatmeal in a food processor.  The next step was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the oat flour, I decided on muffins!

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Oat Muffins

2 cups oat flour

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp brown sugar (optional for extra sweetness)

1 large mashed banana

1 cup vanilla almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Topping:

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnmon

1/4 tsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 12 cup muffin pan (I use liners because I HATE cleaning muffin pans)

Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, oats, cinamon, nutmeg cocoa powder, brown sugar) in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another (mashed banana, milk, vanilla, honey, applesauce).  Combine the two bowls into one until blended well.  Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.  Combine topping ingredients together. Spoon muffin mixture into muffin pan until full (they will not rise).  Sprinkle topping.  Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Banana Muffin Whole Wheat Pancakes

Banana Muffin Whole Wheat Pancakes

I always try to find recipes that are good and healthy.  This is a recipe I found on 100daysofrealfood.com and I modified it a little bit.  I didn't count, but I would guess this made about 15 small/medium size pancakes.

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used Hodgson Mills)

2 tablespoons baking powder

1.5 tablespoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon honey

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons applesauce

2 ripe bananas

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl then mix in the two milks.

Mash up bananas then combine with rest of wet ingredients.

Slowly pour wet ingredients into dry and mix together.

Pour onto heated pan or griddle (I use a ladle) and cook about 3-4 minutes per side.

Serve with your choice of toppings.  My husband likes maple syrup and slithered almonds, my daughter and I used cream cheese and strawberries. 

They also freeze well!  I freeze on a baking pan for 2 hours then put into a freezer bag for easier storage.