healthy breakfast – BIG EATS tiny kitchen

Hello. My name is Alissa and I am an oatmeal-aholic. I am. *sigh*

My all time favorite oatmeal flavor is cinnamon apple. However, my recent new oatmeal passion is this Banana Nut Oatmeal.

I love oatmeal with all of my heart. I actually look forward to having oatmeal every morning. It’s my favorite breakfast and my favorite thing about chilly mornings. Nothing is more cozy to me than a warm comforting bowl of oatmeal. It’s like getting a hug from your favorite person while wearing wool socks in front of a cozy fire in a fabulous log cabin with Otis Redding on repeat on the record player.

I’ve been making this delicous Banana Nut Oatmeal every morning lately which is the perfect marriage between banana nut bread and creamy oatmeal. It is also a fabulously healthy way to start your morning during this crazy holiday winter season. The chia seeds and flax seeds help boost the nutrition, fiber content, and protein content which will help you stay full throughout the morning.

I typically work out in the mornings and have to hurry myself getting ready and end up eating breakfast at work while checking my emails. That is why I prep my breakfast the night before. I add all of my oatmeal ingredients to a microwave safe container and simply add liquid in the morning when I get to work and heat ‘er up! So whether you are rushed or have some spare time, this breakfast is perfect for you. You can either throw all of the ingredients into a bowl and refrigerate overnight before making it in the morning or you can cook it in a saucepan on an oven and fill your home with amazing aromas. This recipe also serves 4 hungry people. You can either make the whole batch and eat leftovers all week, or cut it down and make it for solo servings.

But trust me, this breakfast is so delicious that none of it will go to waste if you make extra! Invite me over and I will help you out! I’ll bring the coffee!

Banana Nut Oatmeal (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan)

Servings: 4
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

2 cups water
2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or regular cow’s milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon ground flax meal
2 cups gluten free rolled oats
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 bananas
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Instructions

Stovetop – Place water, almond milk, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add chia seeds, flax meal, rolled oats, and cinnamon to the saucepan. Turn down heat and allow to cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Dice up one banana and add to saucepan and stir. Allow to cook for an additional 5 minutes, adding a bit of water if needed. Remove from heat. Spoon into four bowls, topping each with remaining sliced banana, chopped pecans, and coconut palm sugar.
Make Ahead – Place all water, almond milk, salt, chia seeds, flax meal, rolled oats, and cinnamon a large bowl, stir, cover, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, stir and spoon out into four separate bowls. Dice a banana on top of each bowl and add water to desired consistency. Microwave each bowl for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir oatmeal and top each bowl with remaining sliced banana, chopped nuts, and coconut palm sugar.

Apples are here! And these Gluten Free Apple Spice Muffins are healthy, delicious, moist, and sweet.

Similar to the way people are feeling about post season baseball around here is the way I feel about Apple Season.

APPLE SEASON is Post Season to me! Am I right? Let’s get pumped, people! Summer is over and HELLOOOOO apples. Crunchy, juicy, sweet/tart Apples.

I could seriously OD on apples more than chocolate… weird, huh? Seriously, I can’t be the only one who has fantasies about going apple picking and bringing home loads of perfect apples and then baking them up in pies, muffins, cobblers, a la mode, cinnamon-spiked applesauce, or, hell, just eating them fresh ALL the TIME. I’m drooling right now.

I also have to admit that I get SO overwhelmed with all the apple varieties. Holy pooh on a stick! How can you choose? I’m on the hunt for some interesting varieties this year. Here in Missouri, there are lots of apple orchards that allow you to pick your own. I’m a big fan of the local varieties of Jonathan, Ozark Gold, Goldrush, and Enterprise. These varieties are good for eating and baking, having sweet/tart flavors with plenty of crunch. They don’t mush up when baked, which is a plus as well.

I used a combination of Jonathan and Golden Delicious when I baked up these luscious Gluten Free Apple Spice Muffins, but any variety should be fine. However, depending on the quality of apples you have access to, the final flavor will vary slightly.

I used a combination of two flours: gluten free oat flour and almond flour. I really like the balance of these two flours in muffins. The combo of these flours provide both fiber and protein, which are perfect for beginning your morning and staying satiated longer. And you get a great fall spice treat to start your day.

I used an interesting technique with these muffins. Instead of using store-bought applesauce, I created my own by pureeing one of the three apples in a food processor. After it was pureed, I then added the remaining two apples to the bowl of the food processor and pulsed the apples until they were chopped. If you don’t have a food processor, you can sub 1/2-cup of applesauce for one of the apples.

And let’s also talk about this Walnut-Oat Streusel topping. Walnuts, oats, maple…mmmmm. You mustn’t skimp on this step, friends. Noo no no. Do this. I typically don’t top my muffins (because I’m lazy). But I took the extra 2 minutes (seriously…why do I not do this) and holy mama was it worth it.

Gluten Free Apple Spice Muffins

Servings: 12
Time: 30 minutes prep / 40 minutes cook
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
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Gluten Free Apple Spice Muffins Ingredients

2 cups gluten free oat flour (ground from gluten free rolled oats or use Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oat flour)
1 cup almond flour (I use Honeyville)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 medium apples, cored and sliced in quarters
1/3 cup greek yogurt (or dairy free yogurt)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted (or coconut oil)
4 eggs (at room temperature)

Walnut-Oat Streusel Topping Ingredients

1/3 cup rolled gluten free oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line or grease a 12-muffin tin with liners and set aside.
Place dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Combine Walnut-Oat Streusel topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, place pieces of one apple, greek yogurt, maple syrup, melted butter, and eggs. Puree mixture until smooth. Add remaining pieces of two apples and pulse until the apples are in small chunks. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir mixture until just combined.
Scoop 1/3-cup of batter into each lined muffin tin to 3/4 full. Sprinkle streusel topping evenly on each muffin. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until muffins are browned and cooked all the way through. Remove from oven. After 15 minutes, move muffins to a cooling rack.