#TrainwithGrains Recipe: Banana blueberry chocolate chip muffins
As the mom of a very active 4 year old, I am often on the go. Between teaching my yoga classes, hitting the gym for strength training or heading out for a run (in between all the other “mom” things I need to do), I am always busy! As a result, I am not the best at having healthy snacks to throw in my bag. I am scoring high points with meals on a regular basis, but snacks, not so much. My little guy will be content with bananas or apples or blueberries…really any fruit and my kid will inhale it. I usually have a bag of almonds in my bag, but sometimes I want more. That is when I cave in and hit up the closest Starbucks for their Banana Chocolate Chip muffin. I know, I know, you don’t even need to say it…not the healthiest choice. But it is so good, especially when they warm it up for you. I can’t help it, it is a guilty pleasure, especially as a treat the day after a race. I am not alone right? No? Just me? Alrighty then.
This began my quest to find a healthy guilt free muffin recipe. A muffin that I could enjoy eating the whole thing and not just the muffin top – Seinfeld, anyone? Again, just me? Well I found a recipe that is so, so, so good and ticks all my must-haves for a healthy muffin treat.
Banana Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins. Zero white sugar and zero oil. Just all good and all delicious melt-in-your-mouth-give-me-more-I-want-all-the-muffins!
These are quick and easy to make. I will generally ignore a recipe if the ingredient list is too long or if they take too long to make, but this was perfect. These muffins are great to eat on the way to the gym or to teach, or as a snack after I have completed a training run. The best part is they are also 100% kid approved and my son doesn’t miss the sugar one bit!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned or quick)
- ¼ cup brown sugar (I use Giddy YoYo raw cane juice crystals)
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup chocolate chips, mini or regular (I used a little less than ½ and then piled in the blueberries)
Since the original recipe is just banana and chocolate chips, I went crazy with the blueberries! Pile in as many as you want!
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a muffin pan by spraying cavities with cooking spray or lining them with paper liners*. Set aside.
- Add all ingredients except for chocolate chips to a blender or food processor and process on high until oats are broken down and batter is smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full. Optional: Sprinkle a few chocolate chips over the top of each muffin.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week and enjoy!
Note:
* If using paper liners, you’ll want to spray them with cooking spray as well, since the lack of oil in these muffins could make them stick to the liners after baking.