Banana Oatmeal Yogurt muffins

I love muffins. And so does my 1 year old daughter. Well, she will happily eat anything bread-like, so muffins are a great way of giving her some healthy nutrients while keeping her happy. I have been playing around with lots of different muffin recipes lately and am excited to share my results.
I rarely go to the grocery store specifically for ingredients for something I want to make, so I usually just tweak and make do with what I do have on hand.
This was my inspiration recipe that I tweaked tonight.

I had a lot of ripe bananas so I decided to double the recipe. Then I figured I would make two different kinds- nut and chocolate chip.

Banana Nut Muffins

• 1 ¼ cup quick cooking oats
• 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar*
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup olive oil*
• 2 large, really ripe bananas mashed

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 lightly beaten egg
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans and cashews
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 1 ¼ cup quick cooking oats
• 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar*
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)*
• 2 large, really ripe bananas mashed

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 lightly beaten egg
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

*Really no reason in particular that I added in some coconut sugar, other than I had some that my mom had given me and was curious to try it. It is not as sweet as brown sugar, so I think it gives a lighter sweetness which is nice.
And the olive/coconut oil was more of an experiment to see if there was a major difference. I did not notice any big difference.
I had cashews and pecans that I was nearly out of, so they were perfect to combine, chop and throw in.

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Mix rolled oats, yogurt and milk together in a bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes.

3.  Combine flour, salt, sugar, spices, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl.

4. Add mashed banana, egg and oil to the rolled oat mixture and mix well.
5. Now add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix together well. Add in nuts / chocolate chips.
6. Fill greased or lined muffin cups 2/3 of the way. Bake for approximately 16-20 minutes.

I was ready for a doubled recipe of 24 muffins, but had extra batter, so this really yielded 30 muffins.

They turned out great! These freeze well and make an easy and quick on-the-go breakfast- just microwave for 30 seconds or less. 

I decided to eat the healthy-ish chocolate chip muffin tonight after I put my baby to bed and hubby was working late. I decided to add to the "healthy" factor by making some homemade (EASY) hot chocolate! Inspired by this, but here was my twist:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cocoa
1 dash salt
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Marshmallow
IT WAS DELISH!

Stay tuned for more healthy muffin twists...tasty spinach muffins coming soon!