Banana Chia Muffins

Behind every good ski day is a big batch of really good muffins. At least that’s the case for me…

These Banana Chia Muffins are all-time easy, and make use of those mushy bananas picking up brown spots on the counter. While my daily diet consistently features some combination of bananas and oats, this is one I particularly can’t get enough of. 

Packed with all kinds of hearty grains, nuts and seeds, these muffins are basically a portable bowl of oatmeal, an excellent on-the-go breakfast for early mornings, mid-morning snacks, afternoon pick-me-ups, or even a not-so-sweet dessert. I freeze half for my future busy self, but to be honest, it’s also because I might just eat 10 in one sitting if I don’t. 

I like berries and walnuts, but I’ve also ditched berries and gone for a sweeter chocolate chip-studded option. If you really want to get wild, you could do both! Feel free to use this as a base recipe and experiment to your heart's content. Add carrots, coconut flakes and raisins if you're feeling wild!

Banana Chia Muffins

Makes 12-18 muffins

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour

1 cup oat flour

3 Tbsp. chia seeds

1 Tbsp. flax seed

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

⅓ cup walnuts

½ cup berries, fresh or frozen, optional

3 ripe bananas (at least a few brown spots are ideal, the more the better)

2 eggs

⅓ cup honey or maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a 12-muffin tin with muffin liners. 

2. In a small bowl, mix almond flour, oat flour, chia, flax, baking powder and salt. Whisk well to combine. 

3. In a separate medium-sized bowl, mash bananas (I use a fork), then stir in eggs, maple syrup and vanilla. 

4. Add the dry ingredients and stir until totally combined.

5. Stir in walnuts and berries. 

6. Fill each muffin liner ½ or ⅔ full. If you like smaller muffins, go with 1/2 full and enjoy more bite-sized muffins. You’ll probably have enough batter to fill a regular muffin tin about one and a half times. Or a little less if you skip the berries and walnuts.

7. Bake for 13 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. 

8. Let muffins cool and enjoy! 

**Storage notes

I like to keep the muffins I plan to eat in the next few days in the fridge for maximum freshness. They keep well in the fridge about a week. I typically put half in the freezer, and they keep well for at least a few months (though they’ve never lasted that long for me). Pluck them out one by one and microwave for 20ish seconds. Or, if you’re packing them up for a ski snack, just pull them out of the fridge, wrap them up, and they should thaw on their own in about an hour.