muffins | Gracefulfitness

Muffin tops are so 1997…today it’s all about filled muffins…

Not convinced yet?

How about now?

Yeah, I thought so. 🙂

This is my second batch of these since Friday! A second batch was necessary because

a. I wasn’t thrilled with Friday’s results

b. I didn’t follow a recipe, measure, or write it down so I couldn’t share the details with you

But this morning I measured, tweeked, and am thrilled with the results so here goes

PBfull Banana Bran Muffins

Makes 6 breakfast muffins or 12 snack muffins

Preheat oven to 350* F

The Dry

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup oat bran
2 T whole flax seeds
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

The Wet

In a food processor mix

2 super ripe bananas
1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt
1 egg

Pour wet into dry

Mix well. Batter should be very wet.

Now comes the best part.

Into the food processor goes

1 very ripe banana
1/3 cup salted peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

This would make the most AMAZING (vegan and sugar-free!) frosting for cupcakes. It would be SUPBURB on top of oatmeal. Who am I kidding, it even made my finger taste pretty damn good!

Butter and flour 6 muffin cups

Step 1: Scoop just under a fourth of a cup of batter into each cup.

Step 2: Blob a heaping tablespoon of the pb-banana filling into the center of each cup of batter.

Step 3: Top with another scant 1/4 cup of batter.

The top two are in step 2 and the bottom two step 3.

Top each muffin with a tiny pinch of organic brown sugar.

Set muffin tin on the top rack of oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Leave muffins in tin for 5-10 minutes before removing and setting on wire rack to finish cooling.

I think one of the tricks to low-fat muffin baking (no added fat in the batter!) is to make sure not to overcook them. These might seem a little doughy when they come out but by the time they cool they should be perfect.

Perfectly DELICIOUS!!!!

These muffins are 100% whole grain, low-fat, high fiber, fruit-sweetened goodness. Don’t expect sweet and light, these babies are dense and not overly sweet.

Each muffin has about 230 calories, perfect for breakfast if paired with fruit and/or yogurt. If you prefer more of a snack size, you could stretch the batter and filling out for 12 muffins. For smaller/more muffins just put about 2 tablespoons of batter on bottom, 2 teaspoons of filling, cover with another 2 tablespoons of batter, more or less.

They could easily be made vegan by using non-dairy milk or apple sauce in place of the yogurt, a flax egg, and paper liners for the muffin tin. If you try it let me know!