Easing up on sweets is not a big deal to me, but my hubby loves having dessert and occasional sweet bites. It’s usually a good thing that I like to make such treats at home— we save money and I know exactly what’s going into them— but doing so while we are trying to shed unwanted pounds feels like a no-win situation. Les told me just before Super Bowl that he wanted to buckle down into a better eating plan, to lose weight and get healthier. This was kind of a shock to me, but I know it must have been on his mind for a while before he sprung the news, and I want to support his decision, for my own health as much as his. There’s only two of us at home, and having those treats around is a lot of temptation.

I had been eyeing some overripe bananas on my counter for a few days, thinking how much I had wanted to make banana bread or a snack cake or muffins, and I reluctantly set aside thoughts of it on Wednesday morning as I scurried to pull together my share of the documents Les and I needed for filing our taxes, when an idea hit me like a lightning bolt—

Why not make the sweet treat and give half of it away? Nina, our tax preparer, had told me a few years ago that she loves sweets, so here was my chance! No need to deprive ourselves or do all the math involved in making half a recipe or shuffle to find space in the freezer for leftovers. Giving away half of the treats would keep us from overindulging in a sweet snack that hung around for too many days. Did I mention that Nina also approved this idea? It’s never a bad thing to spiff a hardworking accountant with unexpected homemade goodies, especially during tax season when she barely has time to come up for air. 😁

I should emphasize that our effort to cut back on sweets (and calories in general) is not driven by doctor’s orders or any scary test results; it is merely borne of realization that our indulging has gotten a little carried away. It feels good to lighten things up, and making mindful ingredient swaps into the foods we enjoy is an easy first step. My focus here was on making sure these muffins had some redeeming value beyond tasting delicious. With wholesome grains, ripe bananas and reduced sugar, they were a substantial baked treat— sweet enough to satisfy, but not over the top.

For someone on doctor’s orders to avoid specific foods, it might be a different story, and a plant-based butter or even expeller-pressed canola oil would be a good swap for the dairy butter if saturated fat is the bane of your diet. You could probably also use only one egg and increase the banana, or one whole egg plus two egg whites, or skip the eggs entirely in favor of flax “eggs.” If you have issues with gluten, you could try one of the widely available 1:1 gluten-free options out there. The grocery stores today have plenty of easy alternatives to make the recipe work, and I’ll leave you to it.

I won’t claim that these muffins are half the calories of a typical recipe, but I’m certain that my substitutions made them better for us, and still took care of our sweet tooth. I would make these again in a heartbeat, especially after seeing how much Les enjoyed having one for dessert and another with breakfast. Next time, I might experiment with maple syrup in place of brown sugar, and canola oil in place of butter. And I probably won’t wait until next year’s tax season. 😉

Healthy-ish Banana Oat Muffins

• Servings: 12 muffins
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Whole grains give these muffins a healthy edge over a typical sweet treat. They are delicious when served warm at breakfast, and they even stand-in nicely as a weeknight dessert.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (see notes for measuring tips)
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. milled flax seed (see notes)
• 1 cup mashed very ripe banana
• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. turbinado or other coarse sugar, for sprinkling on muffins before baking

Notes: For accurate measuring of flour, use the fluff-sprinkle-level method. Use a fork or whisk to fluff up the flour in your bag or container, the sprinkle it from a spoon into your measuring cup until overflowing, and then use the edge of a knife to level it off. Dipping straight into the flour bag will likely result in excess flour and a dry outcome.

The Omega-3 (good) fats in flax seed are only digestible when the seeds are ground. You can purchase flax seed already milled, and it’s best stored in the fridge or freezer this way. I usually purchase the whole seeds, grinding them in a coffee or spice grinder as I need them.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F, with oven rack in center position. Line or grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and flax meal.
3. In a separate bowl, combine mashed banana, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the wet mixture all at once. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to gently fold the ingredients together, taking care not to over-mix. Let the batter rest one minute, as the acidity in the buttermilk will react with the baking soda to create a somewhat bubbly batter.
5. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. I found a cookie dough scoop very useful for this. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over all the muffins, with one tablespoon covering each row of four muffins.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven, and use the toothpick test to confirm doneness. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.