Banana Bread Muffins

I’ve been on a food waste reducing mission since the beginning of the year. I’ve tried to really keep track of the food I buy so that minimal amounts of it end up in the trash.

With that in mind, when I saw that two perfectly innocent bananas were starting to get rather tanned, I made this banana bread. It’s a simple one-bowl recipe, packed with flavour and good ingredients. Plus, it’s refined sugar-free! Well, if you don’t count the chocolate chips… that doesn’t count, right?

Here is what you need:

• 2 tbs ground flax seeds + 6 tbs water
• 2 ripe bananas (we’re talking brown spots here)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce (I pureed some raw apple with my stick blender for this, but if you’re out, an extra mushed banana will also work great)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 3/4 cup oat flour (I made mine in my blender using regular oats)
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• to make them extra cute: extra chocolate chips + some sliced banana

Here is what you do:

1. In a large bowl, mix the flax seeds and water together and let sit for 5 minutes or until they form a gel-like substance.
2. Preheat your oven to 350F (180C) and oil your muffin tin.
3. Mash up the two bananas with the flax mixture until smooth.
4. Add in the rest of the ingredients one by one. Whisk until smooth between each addition.
5. Fill up your muffin tins with two tablespoons of the batter.
6. To decorate, add a few chocolate chips and a banana slice to the top of each muffin.
7. Place in your oven for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and enjoy!

Super simple, super delicious! These are not too sweet, so the chocolate chips really add in a nice touch. Also, because they are made with oat flour, they are perfect for breakfast and will keep you full for quite some time. Let me know if you try them out!