31.8.17

One Banana, One Bowl: Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins

Ever suddenly crave a specific baked good? Always.  Ever feel like you don't really want to end up eating a whole batch of said baked good? Sometimes.  Ever realise you don't have enough ingredients to make a whole batch to begin with? Often. 

Solution? These small batch banana walnut muffins!

Late one Sunday evening, I was really craving banana walnut muffins and I knew I had to have them for breakfast the next morning. There were two things throwing me off, though. First, I was going to be the only one in the house for the next ten days. Sure, I could give the "extra" muffins to friends or the like, but I am just so used to sharing my freshly baked goods with the family that it just wasn't feeling right. Second, I looked in my fruit bowl to see just one spotty lonesome banana sitting there. Yup, just one. Definitely not enough for a whole tray of muffins.

I guess this only meant one thing - these small batch banana walnut muffins!

Are you seeing a pattern yet?

If not, let me spell it out for you. These small batch banana walnut muffins are the answer to your problems. Trust me.

I threw together the batter in a matter of ten minutes, put them in the oven, ran to take a quick shower and came back out to the warming and comforting smell of banana bread permeating through the house.

Also, I had seen muffins and breads being eaten this way on Instagram and on other food blogs, but never once did I feel the urge to spread a muffin with thick creamy yogurt and some nut butter. Or at least until the morning I ate these muffins I didn't. But the Monday morning I ate these (yes, I ate two), I caved. I took spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and natural almond butter and put them onto the muffin before taking each bite. Life. Changing. Just imagine it - chunky banana nutty muffins, cool yogurt and rich nut butter? A combo from the heavens, I tell ya.

Whether or not you're into the nut butter + yogurt + muffin combo (not sure why you wouldn't be!), I can assure you you'll be into these muffins. They're literally made from everyday breakfast ingredients, so they 100% qualify as breakfast (or snack or dessert, of course!).
Ingredients
Makes 2 large or 3 medium muffins
½ cup oat flour
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 medium ripe banana
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white almond butter (or any nut butter of your choice)
1 heaped tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tsp pure maple syrup
a handful of raw walnuts, chopped

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a muffin tin with two or three muffin liners and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, mash the banana. Next, whisk in the egg. Then add the vanilla, almond butter, coconut oil, yogurt and maple syrup and whisk again.

Put the dry ingredients - oat flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt - in the same bowl and mix everything until just combined. Fold in most of the chopped walnuts, saving a few for sprinkling on top.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin liners. Sprinkle any remaining walnuts on top.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Eat warm with a pat of butter or wait for them to cool and slather with yogurt & nut butter and devour the goodness.

Either (or whatever) way, enjoy!