Why roast bananas? BECA– — USE it is easy, and awesome for making explode-in-your-mouth caramelized banana goodness. And that’s about all I have to say about that. If you’re quick about prepping while you’re roasting, you will only have a couple of minutes between popping the bananas out of the oven and popping the muffins in, so it’s a win-win. Hey, you had to preheat anyway, right?
I didn’t set out to make these muffins gluten-free, they just turned out that way. Oats are awesome. They’re filling, high in fiber, good for lowering cholesterol, and have a lovely chewy texture. They’re also very versatile. Unbeknownst to many of the recent converts to gluten-free, oats are an excellent and cheap choice for gluten-free baking… as long as you can find gluten-free oats. Many oats are processed in facilities that also process wheat, and so can be cross-contaminated.
Myself, I have a local farm here who grows them organically and does her own processing, and so I can buy organic, gluten-free rolled oats for a mere 50 cents a pound.
Make your oat flour on demand in your blender, or store any unused portions in the freezer or fridge as oat flour may go rancid in time. These muffins, like all muffins I have made, seem to only have a counter-life of 3-4 days, so if you’re not a major-muffin eater, I suggest freezing at least a half dozen individually wrapped in Saran wrap once they are cool and storing the rest in the fridge.
Roasted Banana Oat Muffins
Serves | 12 |
Prep time | 20 minutes |
Cook time | 20 minutes |
Total time | 40 minutes |
Dietary | Gluten Free |
Meal type | Bread, Breakfast, Snack |
Misc | Freezable, Pre-preparable |
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup palm sugar (brown is an acceptable substitute)
- 3/4 cups milk or alternative
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 overripe bananas (frozen is ok)
- 2 + cups oat flour (oat flour can be made as needed from quick oats in a blender)
- 1/3 cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional
- rolled oats or nuts for garnish
Directions
Step 1. | (If you have oat flour already, skip to step 2) In your blender or food processor, put two and a half cups of quick oats, and process for 30 seconds to one minute, until the oats become the size and consistency of flour. You may have to stop and stir the oats once. You will end up with between two and two and a half cups of oat flour. |
Step 2. | Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If your bananas have been frozen, defrost them for about 30 seconds to a minute in the microwave. Put your three bananas on an old, ungreased cookie sheet and roast for 12-15 minutes, or until the skins turn black and the bananas ooze liquid. |
Step 3. | While the bananas are roasting, in a medium mixing bowl, mix two cups oat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and palm sugar. |
Step 4. | Carefully crack the roasted bananas open and drop them into the dry mixture, mashing it in with a spoon and breaking up any lumps of sugar that might remain. |
Step 5. | In a smaller bowl, mix the oil, milk, and egg together, and fold into the banana/flour mixture. The finished batter will be like wet cookie dough bordering on cake batter. If the mixture seems too wet (bananas were large), add any remaining oat flour left over, up to an additional 1/2 cup. |
Step 6. | Line a 12-muffin tin with paper cups. Pour the batter into prepared tin. Garnish the batter with quick oats or nuts if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350F, or until the muffins pass the clean toothpick test. |
Were you tempted to use honey in this recipe?
They were pretty sweet already!
Okay, this is really interesting!
I can’t wait to try them!