Vegan Oatmeal Banana & Craisin Muffins With Applesauce

I've been experimenting way too much with baking and muffins seem to be my new thing. They're easy to make so I have snacks enough to last me for the week at uni. You could easily freeze these too :) What really surprised me was the fact that these held together without any eggs!

These ones were even better than the sweet potato muffins I made last time! Which in comparison, had waaaay too much stevia... I should probably fix that recipe haha. The applesauce keeps these muffins moist and the banana gives it that tiny bit of banana flavour reminiscent of banana bread :) And cinnamon pairs so well with apples so I couldn't resist sprinkling some in. I love me a bit of spice! And the great news is they really don't need any added sugar. The riper your bananas, the sweeter your muffins will be - naturally! Well, the craisins have a fair bit of sugar but I took that into account when adding in stevia. I do love the sweet bursts from the craisins though. The best thing about these muffins are they are so easy to take on the go - just nuke them in the microwave for 20 seconds so that they are warm (and don't stick to the paper!) and you have yourself a yummy breakfast :)

Oatmeal Banana & Craisin Muffins With Applesauce
Makes 12

Ingredients

Dry
1 1/2 cups (200g) spelt flour (If you want to use whole wheat flour instead of spelt, remember 200g of spelt = 1 1/3 cup wheat flour)
3/4 cup (70g) rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp chia seeds

Wet
1/3 cup (90g) mashed very very ripe banana (the more spots the better!)
2/3 cup (190g) applesauce (I used Three Threes apple sauce which is sweetened)
1 tsp coconut oil
2 packets (4g) Natvia stevia
3/4 cup (200mL) oat milk (I used oat milk because of its thicker in consistency than normal milk. You could possibly use greek yogurt or maybe even skim/almond/soy milk but I can't vouch for the results)
2/3 cup craisins (or raisins, or any other fruit you like!)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C or 375F. Line 12-cup muffin tin with liners and coat the inside of them with cooking spray or oil.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and chia seeds - leave it aside.

3. In a medium bowl combine mashed banana, applesauce, melted coconut oil, stevia, and oat milk. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix! The batter will be slightly lumpy, and that’s okay! Gently fold in the craisins.

4. Bake muffins for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Muffins are best served warm. Pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds before eating for a tasty snack!