Banana Hazelnut Protein Muffins
I tend to buy a lot of fruit each week to snack on in between meals, and I always have a ton of bananas on hand for smoothies and quick bites on the go. However, if I've had a rather forgetful or busy week where I'm hardly home, I'll end up with a bunch of overripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl. I usually double the recipe and make a big batch of these for myself and my boyfriend to take as little snacks if we don't have time for breakfast, or for a little protein hit after workout. They're only a little bit naughty with the nutella, and can be made vegan easily by substituting eggs for flax seeds (*dislcaimer - I actually completely forgot to add the eggs one time and they still tasted amazing!), and nutella for a homemade hazelnut spread.
Try out baking the recipe on your next rainy day stuck indoors!
(MOSTLY) HEALTHY BANANA HAZELNUT PROTEIN MUFFIN
Makes about 12-14 small muffins/brownie squares
Ingredients:1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup honey 2 eggs 2-3 overripe bananas 1/4 cup almond milk 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 cup oats 3/4 cup protein powder (I use a mix of half Coconut/half Cacao Protein Powder from Wildbag)
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts and almonds (can substitute for any nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, fresh banana slices, desiccated coconut etc) Nutella (to freeze small drops and drizzle on top)
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 165 degrees celcius and lightly grease a muffin or brownie square pan with some coconut oil. 2. Using two teaspoons, take small dollops of nutella and place them onto a sheet of baking paper to briefly put in the freezer. Freezing them will help them keep their shape a bit and turn into a gooey nutella centre when baked! 3. Mash the bananas with the almond milk and vanilla extract, I usually just zap mine for a few seconds in my Nutribullet. In a large bowl, whisk the oil and honey together, add the eggs and beat well. Add the banana and almond milk mixture and stir well. 4. Add the baking soda, salt and cinnamon and whisk to blend. Switch to a big spoon or spatula and stir in the oats and protein powder, until just combined - a few lumps are okay. Add in the chopped nuts or additional mix ins. 5. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, take the nutella dollops out of the freezer and gently push them into the batter a little bit.
6. While they are baking, warm some extra nutella in a bowl over another bowl of just boiled water so the consistency is nice and runny. After baking for about 5-10 minutes, drizzle the nutella over muffins. (You can also do this with regular chocolate after they have baked and cooled). 7. Let the muffins cool before you remove them from the pan.
ENJOY!! YUM!!
