This is the burden I have to bear as a girl who loves both food and bargains. So now I find myself with a surplus of blueberries and peaches. So I made these DELICIOUS Banana Blueberry Oat Muffins, made with 100% whole grains and absolutely no refined sugar!
It’s a good thing I bought blueberries in bulk because it took me several attempts to get this right. Baking with whole grains is much different than baking with all-purpose flour. For one thing, whole grain baked goods can come out fairly dense. I have found that the biggest thing that helps avoid this is to not over-mix the batter. When you hear cooks on TV saying “stir until just combined,” they mean it. The more you mix, the denser it will be. So when you add the flour and oats to the wet ingredients, make sure you only just combine it, and then gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
A note about over-ripe bananas: please, please, whenever you have bananas about to go bad, don’t throw them out! Put them in your freezer until you want to use them for muffins, bread, or banana chia seed pancakes. Freeze them whole, and when you need to use them, microwave for 45 seconds and remove the fruit from the peel. The peel will turn black and look unappetizing, but the inside is soft, sweet, and perfect for baking. While we are on the subject of freezers, these muffins can be frozen for up to 6 months in an airtight container or bag. When you want one, simply remove from the freezer and microwave for 30 seconds to one minute for a quick and easy breakfast.
To serve, I recommend cutting the muffin in half, spreading butter on it, and grilling cut-side down for a couple of minutes in a cast iron skillet. Hey, there has to be butter somewhere, right?
The result will be a toasty, buttery, crunchy outside with a soft, warm inside. Yum, I think I will go make one right now! Of course, they are delicious on their own as well :-) Now I have to think of something to do with those peaches… peach cobbler? Any other ideas?
