Remember the story of Benny the Bunny? Well, he’s been coming to our backyard a few times a week for over a month now. Once he even brought his girlfriend for a play date. There he was, Benny the Bunny and Bonny the Bunny jumping and playing and running around. My cats were very amused and kept watching them through the window. After some light research, I found out that bunnies really like bananas, so I’ve switched from apples to bananas since I also like them more.
Last weekend I noticed that my last two bananas were getting really ripe. I was looking online for some recipes and nothing really interested me: too much sugar, too much butter, too much oil, too much, too much. So, last weekend I woke up and decided to come up with a healthy muffin recipe that involved bananas. Recipe included no flour, no butter, no (almost) oil and no sugar. Yes, seriously! Up until taking the first bite of the still warm muffin, I wasn’t sure what to expect. And, oh, was I surprised? They turned out de-li-cious!!! Yum!
They were so good that I made them again this weekend. They are full of fibre, fruit and protein. No, they don’t taste like full-fat muffins. No, they don’t have the same smooth cake-like texture. But they are flavourful, healthy, delicious and very filling. They are perfect to take to work for breakfast and you can even make them gluten-free, just omit wheat bran and add extra oats.
Peanut Butter and Banana Vegan Breakfast Muffins
for 12 medium muffins
Bananas, very ripe – 2 large
Apple sauce, unsweetened – 1/2 cup
Peanut Butter, smooth – 1/2 cup
Vegetable oil -1 tablespoon (option, can easily omit it)
Dark maple syrup – 2 1/2 tablespoons
Wheat bran – 1/4 cup
Quick cooking oats – 2 cups
Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
Orange oil – 1/2 teaspoon
Raisins, unsweetened – 1/4 cup
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Add bananas, apple sauce and peanut butter to the bowl of a food processor. Mix until bananas are pureed.
- Measure oil if using and add to the mixture.
- Using the same spoon measure maple syrup. Oil will prevent syrup from sticking.
- Add bran, oats and baking powder.
- Process for about one minute. Essentially, oats are being ground into a resemblance of oat flour.
- Add orange oil, raisins and mix.
- Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare the muffin pans by either spraying them with oil or lining them with paper liners.
- Fully fill the muffin pans with batter, it will not rise much. Smooth the top.
- Bake for 30 min or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool slightly and enjoy.
Comments
– As mentioned earlier, muffins can be made gluten free by replacing bran with extra oats. I added bran for extra fibre and because I actually like the taste.
– One tablespoon of oil in the recipe is only because I use oil to coat measuring cup for peanut butter and measuring spoon for maple syrup.
– First time I made these I only filled muffin pans 2/3 full like it’s always recommended when making muffins, but since they don’t rise I ended up with 18 mini bite-size muffins, which you can see on a picture below.
Tanya Curtis says
What is orange oil ? Can it be substituted ? As cannot have oranges .
Imagelicious says
Tanya – orange oil is oil from orange skin. If you click on the link in the blog there will be some description. If you can’t have oranges, just add some other flavouring: lemon zest, cinnamon, ginger or even a couple of teaspoons of rum! These muffins are quite dense, so flavouring elevates the taste
Julia B. says
Do you think oat bran would work in place of the wheat bran?
Imagelicious says
Definitely! I didn’t mention it as it’s quite difficult to find. I was only able to buy it at a local Russian grocery store and couldn’t find it at my regular super market. But yes, oat bran should work too!