Banana oatmeal blueberry muffins

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One predictable things about kids is that they're unpredictable. Sounds cliche but many cliches exist for good reason. Case in point, bananas! On weeks when I don't have or buy any, oh boy they'd really love a banana for snack. Sometimes I just grab a couple and they devour them immediately. So naturally, when I buy a whole bundle of bananas, they hardly get touched and actively rejected. 

In the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, I made a whole bunch of things from browning bananas. A recent favorite combination has been bananas and quick oats in baked goods. I paired it down to this one bowl, easy to throw together and delicious recipe that is suitable for many form factors - muffins, donuts, bars. I will walk you through the basic recipe, what mix ins I've tried (and lessons learned, heh) and variations that can elevate this to the next level. 

First step is to mash the bananas - if you can patiently enough for them to be over-ripe (decent amount of brown on the skin, flesh very soft and starting to get mushy at the ends) then that's really the ideal point. They're extra sweet, creamy and very easy to mash down for the recipe. If you prefer less ripe, then any ripeness level where you no longer see green on the outside is ok. Start out with all the bananas in a large bowl - this will be your working bowl and everything will come together right in here. With a firm whisk or fork, mash the bananas until mostly smooth (small chunks ok), then whisk in sugar, egg and vanilla extract until uniform. Add melted butter and stir well. 

Now you can measure all your dry ingredients on top. Remember you want to avoid overmixing so you don't get gummy muffins, so after measuring the flour scatter the leaveners, spices, salt and oats on top so they more readily mix uniformly. It's pretty forgiving, no worries. Mix just until everything is incorporated.

It's time to incorporate the add-ins. For my first go-around I used blueberries, they were beautifully ripe and starting to soften so I didn't want them to go to waste. Simply fold them quickly into the batter until they're distributed pretty well throughout. You can also use frozen blueberries, mix them in frozen so they don't get the mixture overly wet when getting incorporated. They'll bake just as well as fresh.

The texture comes out fluffy but moist, with a bit of chew from the oats and creaminess from the bananas, truly delightful. The kids are eager to eat these by the handful. 

Now let's talk form factor - no treat is complete around here until it becomes a donut. For whatever reason, donuts and waffles are far more exciting to my kids than muffins and pancakes, and first impressions matter. Something I found with donuts is that fruit mixed inside can get stuck in the pan and affects the structural integrity of the baked good enough that it may fall apart when taken out. That happened with my apple cake donuts (especially when I tried using peaches inside) and it happened with these (see blueberry one below). As a result, I recommend sticking with the add ins on top for donuts, they look prettier too and make the treat easier to manage. Side note: rhubarb needs some sweetness, if you pick it as a topping as I did, make sure to sprinkle some sugar/drizzle some honey on top or else it dries out and it crisps up more than ideal. 

To serve, enjoy as is with or without a hot cup of coffee. Or embrace the donut form factor (no worries, works with muffins too) and jazz it up a bit with vanilla yogurt and a drizzle of nut butter on top. To demonstrate the versatility of it, yesterday was National Ice Cream Sandwich day, so I took a muffin from my latest batch with peaches inside, sliced it in half and enjoyed it with a scoop of chunky monkey ice cream, delightful indeed! The possibilities are endless.

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Banana oatmeal blueberry muffins

Makes 10 muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 medium ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup quick cooking oats
• 2/3-1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Method:

1. Mash bananas in a bowl with a firm whisk or fork.
2. Add sugar, egg and vanilla and mix well until fairly smooth (a few small lumps of banana are ok). 
3. Stir in melted butter, mix well. 
4. Add dry ingredients, fold until incorporated, don't overmix! Add blueberries, if using frozen don't thaw first so they keep their structure a bit. Scoop in paper lined muffin pan, bake at 375F for 20-22 min until golden on top.

Notes:

• For added flavor, brown the butter when melting it. On medium heat, keeping a watchful eye, leave it on the heat for a bit longer once it's done melting. You're looking for the separated milk solids to turn a golden amber color. As soon as that happens, remove from heat. Let cool slightly before adding to the batter so you don't scramble the eggs.
• You can get creative with your spices! I like to add a pinch of cardamom or alspice to complement the cinnamon. Or leave warm spices out altogether and use a bit of extra vanilla or a splash of rum extract.