Healthy Banana Nut Oat Muffins

I'd like to say first off that I absolutely LOVE muffins. From home baked to Tim Hortons to Starbucks, they are my fav. But the main problem is the way they are usually made. When you get muffins from most coffee shops or bakeries, they are loaded with butter, oil, sodium and sugar. I know this because I once looked up the nutrition for a muffin from Tim Hortons and was shocked. It has more calories, fat, carbs, sugar and cholesterol than a McDonalds Cheeseburger. See below....

Nutrition Comparison

Banana Nut Muffin (Tim Hortons)
Calories: 390
Fat: 18g
Carbs: 52g
Sugar: 27g
Cholesterol: 35g

Cheeseburger (McDonalds)
Calories: 300
Fat: 12g
Carbs: 33g
Sugar: 7g
Cholesterol: 35g

Since we have been trying to eat healthy and cut down on the processed and "fast food", I decided to try to make some healthy muffins. I have made a few but these ones were the best! They used no butter, oil, salt or sugar. They came out with a great consistency and tasted amazing. Not too sweet but just enough to fill that never ending muffin craving. 

Ingredients

1 cup Rolled Oats (not quick oats)
1.5 cups Oat flour
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (not sweetened)
2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
1/4 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts or almond slivers)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp Chia seeds or Flax seeds (optional)
1 tbsp vanilla
2 large ripe bananas (or 3 small)
Handful of nuts to sprinkle on top of each muffin

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 350F degrees
- Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray
- If you don't have oat flour, place oats in the food processor for about 10 seconds until they are a flour consistency
- Pour into a large bowl with dry ingredients (choc chips, nuts, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda)
- In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients (yogurt, eggs, honey, Chia, vanilla, mashed bananas)
- Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix with a spoon
- Pour into muffin tin about 3/4 for each muffin - should make 12 muffins
- Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of each one
- Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Let cool on wire rack 

ENJOY!

Someone on the original blog post below, calculated the calories to be about 130 per muffin.
Recipe adapted from: http://fitandhealthywithdebbie.blogspot.ca/2012/10/banana-oatmeal-breakfast-muffins.html 

Pina Colada Muffins

So last year this time, Nathan and I were sitting on the beach in Bali sipping Pina Colada's, eating fresh fish and bronzing in the sun. Now,  a year later, we are living in beautiful Vancouver... but not on vacation. We have had a fortunate winter with tons of snow at Whistler and the opportunity to snowboard on some unbelievable powder days. But... nothing beats vacation in Bali. So I decided to make some muffins that brought us back to those memories.

   

I had fresh pineapple in the house and I always seem to have coconut on hand. I found this recipe for Pineapple Coconut Muffins online and decided to adjust it a bit and give it a try. They turned out better than I thought they would! We even took a few the next day on our hike to the top of Mt Seymour in North Vancouver as a snack after reaching the peak! Later that afternoon we went to Jericho Beach by our house to do some reading and relaxing and gobbled down a few more of these treats.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sour cream (I used low fat Greek Vanilla Yogurt)
1 cup pineapple, diced into small pieces
2 teaspoons dark rum (I used white rum - but i'm sure Malibu Rum would be good too!)
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and 1/4 cup of the coconut. 3. In another bowl, whisk the sour cream, butter, egg whites, run and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in the diced pineapple. 4. Stir the dry ingredients into the sour cream mixture and stir with a spoon until just combined, do not overmix.5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup to about 3/4 of the way full. 6. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of the coconut and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Sprinkle over the muffin batter.7. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.