Last summer, before I was as committed to building up my vegan recipe arsenal as I am now, I shared a recipe for banana crumb muffins. Yesterday, we had some leftover bananas lying around, and I felt like making something as healthy and as portable as those muffins, but that would be vegan and just as tasty. Instead of thinking of something completely new, I just decided to veganize them! I didn’t put the crumb topping on this one, but that could easily be whipped up with some flour, cinnamon, and vegan margarine.

I actually ended up liking them more than the originals, and my vehemently non-vegan friends and family members couldn’t tell that they were egg and dairy-free. That’s my usual strategy for vegan recipe-testing: if unbiased (or biased in the opposite direction) tasters find them to be as good as my non-vegan items, they’ve passed the test!

These muffins passed with flying colors, and I’ll definitely be making them frequently. They’re easy to whip up in a pinch, and they’re low on fat!

Makes a dozen.

Serving size: one muffin. Calories per serving: 220 (oil), 180 (applesauce)

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup mashed banana

1/4 cup canola oil (Use applesauce instead for lower fat)

1 cup soy, almond, or coconut milk

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2c vegan chocolate chips (Can be replaced with blueberries)

Optional: 1/4-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl: flours, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Mash the banana, and mix it with the oil or applesauce, milk, water, and vanilla. Stir this into the dry mixture until combined.

3. Add oats, chocolate, chips, and walnuts if desired. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Allow to cool for 3 minutes in the pan before moving them to a wire rack.

And enjoy your (nearly) guilt-free treat!