Baked Banana and Almond Oatmeal Muffins

Honest moment here, how many of you skip breakfast? Me too. And I’d bet that if you’re like me that it is not because you don’t like breakfast, but it’s because you would rather sleep the extra 20 minutes instead, am I right? haha. Well perfect, because sometimes in life you do get to have your cake (in this case a muffin) and eat it too and this is one of those times. The solution is pretty simple, just make breakfast the night before and have it ready to grab and go in the morning. So with that idea in mind I made these baked banana and almond oatmeal muffins and they are incredible. They have become my go to breakfast lately and even make a great mid-day snack at the office. The carbs and the healthy fats are a great energy boost to help you power through the rest of the day or just what you need to get you going in the morning.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of almond butter
• 1 1/2 mashed bananas (saved one to be sliced)
• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup raw sliced almonds ( set some aside for topping)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray
• While the oven is heating up, combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl and throughly mix together. Then spoon the mixer into the muffin pan, filling each cup to the rim.
• Top each one with a few sliced almonds and one sliced banana. You aren’t limited here so feel free to go as crazy as you would like with the toppings.
• Place in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, you want the muffins to be firm.
• Before you pull the muffins out, set the oven to broil for 2 minutes, but watch it like a hawk because it could burn quick. This step gives the toppings a nice toast that adds so much to the overall taste that is worth the extra effort.
• Let these cool for a few minutes and then enjoy. Whatever you have left just separate into ziplock bags and refrigerate and then they are ready to be the perfect grab and go breakfast or mid-day snack.

What Lindsey and I have learned is that if we don’t plan ahead with healthy snacks, we ALWAYS end up grabbing something unhealthy. So, it is great to have a grab and go snack option, like these muffins.

Thanks again for stopping by!

John