You might have noticed Sunday I didn’t really celebrate Father’s Day here on the blog. I did on Instagram and in real life, but not here. Or maybe it was just dad who noticed 😉
It wasn’t on purpose. I had a delayed sponsored post due and had to get it up. Not to mention a failed cheesecake recipe last week that left me without a super special, Dad inspired recipe. But I’m here now to celebrate Dad. After all Father’s Day is kinda sorta one of those Hallmark holidays when we should be celebrating dads everywhere all the time.
Particularly lately I have been celebrating Dad regularly in many ways, but especially with food. I have given him tons of treats, but he totally needs good for him food to nourish him as he continues to recover from his surgery and get back his strength as he heads back to those long, long days at work.
It’s a battle then between the two of us for healthy food that tastes good and doesn’t result in him making faces at me. Yep, when I set things like salads and roasted vegetables in front of Dad, I get looks.
However, like any of us, sometimes he learns to like a food if he gives it a chance or two. Like oatmeal. When he was home, I made oatmeal quite a few mornings, but as he heads back to those work days, I’m so not getting up at six in the morning to do so. #sorrynotsorry.
But I came up with a solution that I think is even better than regular oatmeal (okay, not that it was regular – I loaded it up with fruit, nuts, cinnamon). Baked Oatmeal Muffins.
Baked oatmeal can be a bit of a gamble. It might turn out dry and dense or soggy and a total mess. I couldn’t have asked these muffins to turn out even a tiny bit better than they did. They are sturdy enough to take on the go and maintain their muffin shape, but they are incredibly moist and lean way more toward muffins than they do a bowl of oatmeal, which surprised me.
Like those bowls of oatmeal I made, these muffins are packed with mashed bananas, warm spices, and crunchy nuts.
The whole family, dad included, will absolutely love these gluten free breakfast treats!
Baked Oatmeal Muffins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups milk (I used skim, use what you love)
- ¾ cup mashed banana
- ¼ cup creamy almond butter
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ cup toasted walnuts
- ½ cup roughly chopped prunes (or other dried fruit)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, milk, banana, almond butter, coconut sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the oats, cinnamon, and ginger. Once well combined stir in the walnuts and prunes. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling all the way to the top.
- Bake 20-30 minutes, until golden brown and set on top. Do not over bake or they will be dry. Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer, wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the microwave about 1 minute.
Notes
Recipe adapted from The Kitchn
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
These sound really good! I should make them for Scott. I have never bought coconut sugar.
You can totally swap in regular brown sugar, but coconut sugar is considered a natural sweetener and healthier than traditional, refined sugar. I bet you could really leave the sugar out altogether since bananas are so sweet.