I talked last week about some of the things I use in place of all purpose flour in my baked goods and one of the ingredients I sometimes use is oats. I have often replaced part of my flour with ground oats, but have never swapped it out completely. I decided it was time to try making muffins only using oatmeal – no flour at all. While the result probably won’t be winning any beauty contests, they are darn delicious, packed full of that traditional banana bread flavor (and the amazing scent you get while they bake).
If you buy gluten free oats, then you have an easy gluten free banana muffin recipe that even gluten eaters will enjoy. The best part about these is that they are made with simple ingredients – nothing fancy, no trips to specialty grocery stores, no strange things you haven’t heard of. Keeping it simple here people.
I started with the Greek Yogurt Banana Bread recipe from The Shiksa In The Kitchen and changed it up some. I am sure her original recipe would be delish, and I will probably try it sometime soon. But for now, let’s make a flour free version.
I started by running my old fashioned oats through my food processor. I’ve purchased oat flour in the past and it’s great, but it’s cheaper to make your own, and I almost always have oats on hand. I put three cups of oats into the food processor and this resulted in about 2 1/3 cups of ground oats (just slightly more than the recipe calls for). I then poured out my oats and ran my bananas through the food processor. I’m not fond of the texture of bananas, so the food processor is always the way I go.
The other ingredients in these include Greek yogurt, bananas, applesauce, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and chocolate chips. You could always leave out the chocolate chips or use nuts in their place. Do what works for you! Truth be told, I wasn’t sure how this would turn out. The batter looked exactly like oatmeal ready to be cooked. For breakfast. In a bowl. With a spoon. Not so much like bread.
While they didn’t rise very much (my daughter told me if I made them in chocolate, they would look like hockey pucks) they tasted great. So they aren’t pretty, but they have that delicious banana bread flavor with a bit more hearty of a texture. The texture reminds me a bit of steel cut oatmeal – hearty and chewy. A few seconds in the microwave this morning and these were an awesome start to my morning. Am I the only one who thinks that breakfast is the consolation prize for having to get out of bed?
This recipe made 24 muffins. Like most of my muffins, I am storing mine in the fridge and freezer. They are so easy for a quick breakfast or to toss into my daughter’s backpack for her snack at school. And she doesn’t even realize that she’s practically eating a bowl of oatmeal for her snack. Woohoo! If you would like some other muffin recipes, make sure to check out my collection of made over muffins.
TO MAKE THESE MUFFINS GLUTEN FREE, MAKE SURE YOU USE GLUTEN FREE OATS (not all oats are gluten free).
*When avoiding anything is your baking for health purposes, always make sure that YOU verify that YOUR ingredients are safe and meet your particular dietary requirements. Also, if you are baking for someone else with food allergies, sensitivities or special diets, make sure to consult with them (or their parent) regarding ingredients to verify if everything is “safe”. Food allergies are not to be messed with, and it is always better to check and double check versus assume. To state the obvious, I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. š
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins {Flour Free & Low Fat!}
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups ground old fashioned oats this is just shy of 3 cups oats prior to grinding them
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter melted but cooled
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 4 ripe bananas - mashed or pureed
- 1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt I use fat free
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup chocolate chips this can be left out or you can use nuts in place of the chocolate chips
- Nonstick cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Before starting, grind your old fashioned oats in a food processor to turn them into a flour like texture. You could also buy oat flour if preferred.
- In a mixing bowl, combine sugars and butter and mix until well combined (mixture will be dry). Add in eggs and applesauce and mix until well combined. Add in bananas, Greek yogurt and vanilla, mix until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine oats, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir into wet ingredients. Add in chocolate chips and stir until just combined.
- Scoop into muffin pans sprayed with non stick cooking spray.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely, then remove from muffin pan. Store covered in fridge or freezer. Enjoy!
Notes
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Katy says
These are absolutely delicious! I used a cup of coconut palm sugar instead of the granulated/brown sugar. I also used one of my kid’s strawberry applesauce pouch, because that was all the applesauce I had. Very, very good!
Christi says
Katy, I’m so glad that you like them!
Kate says
Hi- could you recommend a substitute for the butter?
Christi says
Hi Kate, sorry on this one I always leave in a bit of butter, as I find that completely removing all fat does not produce a result I am happy with. 3 TBSP butter for 24 muffins is pretty minimal in my book. If you want you could swap it out with more yogurt, but again, I do not find the result on a completely fat free muffin to really be what I’m happy with. Good luck!
andrea says
Thanks for the gluten-free recipe using everyday items! It is always so expensive to get GF flours, etc. so I appreciate that this is an inexpensive recipe. Keep the GF recipes coming! Do you follow any other blogs that have GF baking? Just entered the GF world and it tough to manuever!
Christi says
Andrea – I always feel bad for those who have to eat special diets because the ingredients seem so costly. š I actually do not do much gluten free baking or cooking, we are all fine with gluten in our house, but I’m hoping to add a few new recipes here and there as I know many of the Love From The Oven readers have requested some gluten free options. š
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
Yum! I love all the additions
sue @ cakeballs, cookies and more says
okay I agree they are not cute:( but wow do they sound good, i could just close my eyes and eat them:)
merle says
I’ve been waiting for this, and will give it a try – thank you. Am wondering if they’d be higher if you added baking powder?
Christi says
Merle, I was wondering the same thing. I will probably add some the next time I make them to see. š
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I want to make these tomorrow! I can see lots of variations too. Perfect for quick snacks!
Christi says
Dorothy – I’d love to hear what you do with them. I was really worried they would not turn out, but they are so yummy. I think the main reason I bake is to come up with stuff like this – things the kids think are yummy (thank goodness for chocolate chips – they are like the gateway ingredient!) but I know have so much more going for them than a pop tart. Not that I don’t love me a chocolate fudge pop tart… š