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!

Banana Bread

Funny thing is when I was young, I used to hate bananas. And when I say hate, I mean absolutely despise them. While I love my grandpa to bits, he used to always try to get me to eat the weirdly textured, awful tasting fruit trying to enlighten me about the great nutrients it has. He never really did convince me to eat them.

Fast forward a decade and now I eat bananas most days strangely enough. Amusing how things turn out don't they? On the other hand, my boyfriend sees bananas at the enemy (don't worry, you don't have to eat this banana bread!) but that's not a problem - more for me!

This banana bread is awesome fresh out of the oven. Cut through the crunchy top and you will be rewarded with a soft fluffy crumb that will have you coming back for more. The best thing is that banana bread recipes require old bananas that are spotty so you can get rid of them before they go bad!

A question I have for you, dear reader, is have you ever thought about why banana bread is categorised as 'bread'? I think it's to trick us into thinking we aren't devouring cake when in actual fact, we really are ;)

Banana Bread
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

3 medium-large bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted salted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

3. Beat in sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and stir in.

4. Add the flour and mix until thoroughly incorporated.

5. Pour batter into a greased 10 x 20cm loaf pan.

6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

7. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve. Eat!

Super Healthy Spelt Banana Pancakes

Sometimes I feel like nothing but pancakes for breakfast. But often, there's quite a bit of sugar and butter that goes into it. But not these pancakes! This version is dairy, egg and wheat free! Generally, I do try to eat lactose, wheat, peanut, soy, and egg-white free as I am intolerant to these things and my body flares up when I eat too much of these along with processed foods. I definitely should not be only trying to avoid these, but eliminate them from my diet, however I think I am in love with a lot of these things just a little too much so I just try to minimise excess amounts in my diet.

These pancakes albeit are a bit a little bit dense and doughy like banana bread and they taste exactly like it after the maple syrup is poured on top! The pancakes themselves have no sugar added to them as we're using fantastic, 100% maple syrup, so what is the point of adding sugar to the batter? And not to mention the addition of sweet ripened banana as well! If you do like your actual pancakes a little bit sweeter, or if you don't like using any syrup afterwards, by all means add sugar to your batter to taste. But I'm telling you the maple syrup will make them awesome!

The only oil used in this recipe is when you grease the pan to prevent sticking so there really is no excuse to make these pancakes. Healthy pancakes for breakfast anyone?

Spelt Banana Pancakes
Serves 1 (6 pancakes)

Ingredients

Dry
3/4 cup (100g) spelt flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon chia seeds

Wet
1 medium, very ripe banana, peeled
1/2 cup oat milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Extra banana slices and maple syrup to serve

Method
1. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until well incorporated

2. In a separate bowl, mash the banana with a fork until almost smooth. Add oat milk and vanilla extract and still with the fork until mixture is blended.

3. Pour the wet banana mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix gently with a rubber spatula until the batter is just incorporated. Do not overmix! Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes so that the chia seeds will bind the mixture together and the baking powder has time to develop.

4. Put a saucepan over medium heat until hot. To test if the pan is hot enough, flick a drop of water onto it and if it evaporates almost immediate, it is ready. Pour a tablespoon of rice bran oil and make sure the surface of the pan is evenly coated.

5. Drop the batter by 2 tablespoons onto the pan, making sure there is ample space in between each pancake. Cook until a few bubbles form on top of each pancake and the underside is golden brown, about a couple of minutes. Slide your spatula underneath each pancake and flip it over. Cook for another couple of minutes so that the bottom is also golden brown.

6. Transfer the pancakes onto a serving plate, top with sliced bananas, maple syrup and serve!