RECIPE | Blueberry Banana Nut Oat Bran Muffins (gluten-free + sugar-free)

Some days call for a little bit of sweetness and a whole lot of comfort. Tax day + the horrific bombing at the Boston Marathon = it was that kind of day. All I wanted to do was stuff the hubs with lots of sweet confections, cuddle with the fuzzies, and watch crappy tv all night long.

We typically limit our sugar intake in part because we aren’t really sweets people and also because we are trying to eat “healthier.” I’m not a nutritionist so I can’t really say for certain if these muffins are even ‘healthy’ but this recipe uses whole ingredients, a limited amount of unprocessed sweeteners, and is generally speaking, gluten-free. If it’s not a healthier version of a muffin, then I’m going to pretend it is anyway because unlike most ‘healthy’ versions of muffins that usually end up tasting like cardboard, these are light, delicious, and so flavorful.

My favorite way to eat these muffins are straight out of the oven when the blueberries are still nuclear hot, but my second favorite way is warmed up in the microwave, sliced in half and with a little bit (ok a lot) of organic whipped margarine spread.

RECIPE | Blueberry Banana Nut Oat Bran Muffins
(gluten-free + sugar-free)

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 18 minutes
Total time: approx 35 minutes
Yields 12 muffins
(Click here to print recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups oat bran (can buy this in bulk at a natural food store or Bob’s Red Mill can be found in most regular grocery stores)
• 1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt (non-greek yogurt works too)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup agave syrup /  honey / organic brown rice syrup / coconut palm sugar / sweetener of choice.* If your bananas are super ripe or you are not much into sweets either you can get away with 1/4 cup. I use just a little bit less than 1/2 cup.
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 TBSP ground flax seed
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 cup of blueberries
• 1/2 cup of pecans
• OPTIONAL: I also like to add 2 TBSP of chia seeds and 3 TBSP of unsweetened coconut flakes.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray or line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners.
2. Add all the ingredients except the blueberries and pecans to a food processor and mix until combined. Make sure the bananas are mixed in well — the batter should be smooth although it will look grainy because of the oat bran. TIP: if you want to gauge the sweetness, mix everything together besides eggs, (and blueberries, and nuts). Add your sweetener of choice, taste, and adjust accordingly, then mix in the eggs.
3. Transfer the mix to a large bowl and fold in the blueberries and pecans (or use whatever ingredients you want,we just happen to like blueberries and pecans)
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, dividing evenly. The batter should be pretty thick and pretty much fill to the top of the muffin tin. Don’t worry, the muffins will be much fluffier when baked!
5. Bake for 18 minutes on the middle rack. Muffins will be done when the tops are slightly golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Refrigerate after a couple days to preserve freshness

*  Note: When I think of “sugar-free” I think of recipes that are free of refined sugar, like white sugar. As a reader mentioned, this recipe in fact does have added sugars in the form of bananas and additional sweeteners like honey/agave. If this is a concern, you may be able to get away with adding an extra super ripe banana in place of the sweetener, though I have not yet experimented with doing so. If anyone has tried this or has any additional suggestions, please let me know in the comments below.

**recipe adapted from this recipe, which has a bunch of great variations in the comments section.

click to print recipe