March 9, 2014

Funky Monkey Oatmeal Muffins

I've been experimenting a lot lately with some of the more common gluten free flour substitutes. I'm still not one of those bakers with all sorts of weirdy flours laying around the house, but I usually have one or two gluten free varieties on hand, whether it be almond meal, coconut flour, or a big jar of oats.

Gluten free flours do tend to be on the pricier side, and since I'm a wheat lovin' girl without any intolerances or allergies, (except for a blue food coloring intolerance. It makes my tummy unhappy. Which makes it very difficult when I want to make something Tardis blue. But I digress...) it's not really worth it for me to stock a whole mess of flours that I'd rarely use and wouldn't even begin to know how to start.

However, that big jar o' oats is inexpensive, gluten free, (just make sure to use certified gluten free if you have an intolerance or are baking for someone who does) happens to be a healthy whole grain, and when ground up, usually works pretty well as a flour substitute.
Now, my food processor is small and inexpensive, and I'm not all that chuffed about getting a fine grind anyway, so my muffins had a distinct oatmeal-y texture. I actually liked them better after they sat for a while. They set up a little bit more, the oatmeal texture kind of mellowed a bit, and the different flavors were more noticeable. And you can't go wrong with the combination of bananas and chocolate hazelnut spread. I mean, come on now. That's some good stuff.

I also added chocolate chips because, duh, chocolate, but they're actually not necessary. And they're actually pretty good for you. Not totally good for you, but no butter, low in sugar, only whole grains, includes fruit. When I plugged them into my handy dandy calorie calculator, I got about 136 calories per muffin without the chocolate chips. (Again, I wouldn't take that as gospel, but it's a good point of reference.) (If you're wondering, the calorie calculator I like to use is here.)
Healthy, gluten free muffins, using an inexpensive wheat flour substitute, chock full of bananas and chocolate hazelnutty goodness? I'm sold.

Funky Monkey Oatmeal Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins

2 eggs
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 small ripe bananas, mashed
⅓ cup chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella, or I used Rigoni di Asiago's Nocciolata spread)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups oat flour*
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and salt until light and foamy. Mix in the brown sugar until well dissolved. Add the bananas, chocolate hazelnut spread, and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated. Fold in the oat flour, baking powder, and chocolate chips, if using.

Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners and divide the batter equally between each. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before serving.

*To make oat flour, just pulse uncooked oats in a food processor until it looks like flour. The finer the grind, the less of an oaty texture for the muffin. Make sure to use certified gluten free oats if that's an issue.

Recipe by Kim