Fruity Muffins

Last year I read a novel called The Friday Night Knitting Club that had this recipe in it for Oatmeal, Blueberry, and Orange Muffins. The muffins sounded delicious, so I gave them a try. The oatmeal and coconut give them a great texture!

Today Deacon and I made them, but we didn't have blueberries so we used bananas. They came out really well... the orange, coconut, and banana combination is tropical and fun. Deacon snagged a lot of bananas while we were cooking -- another reason to make healthy food with your kids. He will eat anything if it is an ingredient!

Here is my modified version. I tossed the diced bananas in the orange juice before adding them and they didn't turn brown.

Banana, Oatmeal, and Orange Muffins

Makes 16 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup plain rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp each baking powder, baking soda & salt
Grated rind of one large orange
1½ cups flaked sweet coconut
½ cup liquid pasteurized honey
1 egg
3 tbsp canola or extra-light olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
Juice 1 orange & add water to make one cup of liquid
1 1/2 cup diced bananas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a muffin tin with paper cups.

Combine the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl: oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Next, add the coconut flakes and orange rind to the dry ingredients.

Get a separate bowl and beat the egg. Then incorporate the wet ingredients: honey, oil, vinegar, juice and water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir until just moist. Then fold in bananas.

Pour batter into muffin cups, careful not to let any batter spill onto the tin. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. (Check to see if the muffins are fully baked by inserting a toothpick before removing from the oven; it should come out clean.)

Remove muffins from the pan and cool on wire rack.