Banana Oat Nut Protein Muffins

I absolutely love baking and changing recipes to make them my own. As a vegan I have to switch up recipes whenever I bake as I don’t use eggs or butter, which are in a lot of baked goods. Recently, I have been playing around with substitutions for using less oil/fat and less sugar. I’ve had a few baking disasters where the recipe totally doesn’t work but that just makes me more determined to find a way to make the recipe work the next time. We have been really loving muffins lately. The kids think they are a treat and mommy is happy because they are actually healthy.

Today we made another version of banana muffins. Banana and pumpkin so far seem to be the fan favorite in our house. I wanted to add some more protein and less sugar to our previous recipe and test out using vegan butter where I had previously used canola oil. I didn’t want to use protein powder to add the extra protein as that can sometimes change the flavor to an already altered recipe quite a bit. I chose to instead swap out half a cup of all-purpose flour for one half cup of vital wheat gluten. I also threw in two ounces of walnuts for some healthy fat and a little more protein.

These muffins are super easy to make and can you can be done and waiting for the muffins to cool in less than 45 minutes! First you will need some very ripe bananas. Grab a large bowl and smash the bananas and add the applesauce. You will then add the brown sugar, vanilla and vegan butter (you could use melted butter if you eat dairy or canola oil).

Once mixed you can move on to your dry ingredients. In a small bowl mix the flour, vital wheat gluten and oats. Next add the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually, add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Once mixed add the chopped walnuts (you could replace with any type of nut you prefer).

BANANA OAT NUT PROTEIN MUFFINS
Printable Recipe
Macros: 173 calories 26.8 carbs 4.2 fat 7.1 protein

 Ingredients
13.5 oz raw banana
6 tsp (1/8 cup) brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp vegan butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup Quick Oats (I use Quaker)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 oz chopped walnuts

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Grease your muffin pan if you aren’t using liners. I use an olive oil spray. You could also use vegan butter. Once greased add a heaping ice cream scoop of batter to each muffin tin. Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Recipe yields 12 large muffins.

Hope you enjoy! Please share comments and photos when you try them!