Peanut Butter Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Ahhh. . . I am in a complete and utter celebratory mood. You see, I was just informed that my oven was being replaced! After a month and several phone calls later (one in which, I will confess I was not my most nicest - yesterday), I am finally (someday soon) going to be able to bake! So in honor of that, I am going to share a recipe that I found (and baked) this past weekend at the beach (home of a working oven). Early last week, I had bought some bananas, but we didn't get to them quick enough because it suddenly got warm (and then cold again), which made my beautiful green bananas freckle with incredible speed. Normally, that would excite me, but this time. . . I was thinking my oven is broken. . . now is not the time (and I can't stand the smell of ripe bananas so I don't like to freeze them). But it happened at the perfect time because we were heading the the beach for 5 days. . . to a house with a fully capable oven. I was stoked beyond all imagination. . . I was starting to go through withdrawals.

I will confess that I have been having fun getting creative with the no bake cookies (recipes to come soon!), but it gets hard when you find many, MANY recipes that look so yummy to bake and when you have engagements where you are needed to make a quiche. . . and can't.

So this recipe was found over here and here.

:: The writer of the first blog found that they tasted better with a dollop of peanut butter spread over the top - I totally agree! These muffins were good, but were even better and more addicting with the extra peanut butter spread over the top!

:: I made mine after 10:00 at night and so I was quite anxious to get to bed, so when they got out of the oven, I quickly covered them up and fell asleep. When I woke up the moisture had made them a bit glossy over the top - which kind of freaked my husband out (but he still ate them. . . a lot of them).

:: These also don't have any oil or shortening agent. . . just applesauce. So, if you are looking for a more healthy alternative to muffins. . . this might be a good pick - I mean, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Bananas, and Applesauce are all fairly healthy, right?
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. applesauce
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
6 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with a fork to blend. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce, brown sugar, eggs, banana, peanut butter and buttermilk until smooth. Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated and fully blended. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Have fun! Let me know what you think. . .

Happy Baking!