Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Muffins ~ #MuffinMonday

February 25, 2013 By 19 Comments

It can’t always be cookies and buttercream, right? Maybe in a fairytale land far, far away where high cholesterol and weight gain don’t exist, but this isn’t a fairytale. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some cookies, but even I have limitations. Well, that is, my hips have limitations. If they’d let me, I’d probably snack on cookies all day; however, that’s not the case.

Sometimes I want to snack on something without feeling guilty about it later, so I’ve been experimenting with guilt-free quick breads in the kitchen lately. Breads full of whole grains, yogurt, fruit, and healthy proteins. Breads that will fill me up without leaving me full of eater’s remorse later. I love baking quick breads for the very fact that they involve little to no planning. They don’t require  kneading, rising, or waiting, and can usually be whipped up in one bowl.

An challenged us to make a muffin using bananas this week, and I instantly knew that I wanted to make a muffin that combined chocolate, banana, and peanut butter. The epitome of all flavor combos. Last week I came across this recipe for Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes by Sally’s Baking Addiction. I instantly fell in love with them and knew I had to make them for #MuffinMonday this week.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Muffins {www.themessybakerblog.com}-6500-2

I made a few minor changes to make the recipe more muffin-like. I added some dark chocolate cocoa powder, white whole wheat flour, and brown sugar. They’re healthy and delicious all at the same time.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Muffins {www.themessybakerblog.com}-6502

The muffin is dark and moist and, my favorite part, swirled with melted peanut butter.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Muffins {www.themessybakerblog.com}-6501

Guilt-free muffins… Now, that’s my kind of breakfast. Enjoy!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Muffin, Quick Bread
Cuisine: Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 16
 

Ingredients
  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg white
  • ¾ cup greek yogurt, vanilla or plain
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ cup dark or bittersweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup creamy peanut butter, melted
  • ⅓ cup peanut butter chips

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 16 muffin cups with papers.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Whisk in the brown sugar, egg, egg white, greek yogurt, and vanilla extract. Mixture will be slightly lumpy.
  4. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Fill the muffin cups ⅔ of the way full with batter. Spoon ½ tablespoon of the melted butter on top of the batter. Using a knife or a toothpick, swirl the peanut butter into the batter. Sprinkle with peanut butter chips.
  6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool for 3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room-temperature for up to 3 days.

 

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Orange Scented Steel-Cut Oats

January 17, 2013 By 26 Comments

I planned on bestowing you with a lovely new muffin recipe this week; however, the muffins had other plans. They decided to be lazy and refused to rise. I think they had good intentions on rising but got half way there and decided to give up, sinking instead. I wouldn’t have minded so much if they hadn’t tasted so darn good, but that was not the case; they were popping with flavor. Such teases, those muffins.

There’s good news! I stumbled upon a new oatmeal recipe as I was preparing my weekly batch of steel-cut oats on Sunday. I love eating steel-cut oats for breakfast during the winter months; they’re warm and filling. I prepare a big batch and store it in the fridge until I’m ready to reheat it during the work week. I just scoop out what I need into a plastic travel container and warm in the microwave in the morning, then sprinkle with my favorite toppings. It makes for a satisfying breakfast on-the-go.

I prefer using steel-cut oats over old-fashioned oats for the very fact that steel-cut oats reheat well. Unlike old-fashioned oats, steel-cut oats don’t get gelatinous and gooey when reheated. They keep their integrity, and you’ll still get that lovely chewy bite from steel-cut oats even after reheating them.

I cooked the oats in a combination of vanilla soy milk and water. The vanilla soy milk provides a lovely burst of vanilla flavor that pairs perfectly with the orange zest/juice. If you don’t have vanilla soy milk on hand, feel free to use regular milk and stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract when you take the oats off the heat.

Enjoy!

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Orange Scented Steel-Cut Oats
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup vanilla soy milk
  • 1 cup steel-cut oats
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 orange, zested and juiced
  • 2 tbs. brown sugar
Toppings
  • dried cranberries
  • toasted pecans
  • toasted almonds
  • dried cherries

Instructions
  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring water, soy milk, and salt to a simmer.
  2. Stir the oats into the simmering water/milk mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low and gently simmer until the mixture is thick.
  3. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally so the mixture doesn’t form a film, until almost all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture is thick and creamy, about a total of 30 minutes.
  4. Take the oats off the heat and stir in orange zest, orange juice, and brown sugar (and a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you used regular milk or plain soy milk).
  5. Serve immediately with desired toppings or allow to cool slightly before ladling into an airtight container and storing in the refrigerator.
  6. To reheat: Spoon desired amount of oats into a microwave-safe bowl. Reheat in 30 second increments until hot. If the mixture is too thick, stir in a touch of milk to thin. Add desired toppings and serve.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Breakfast Tagged With: , , , , ,

Orange Pumpkin Pancakes

October 3, 2012 By 23 Comments

Happy Wednesday, all! Today is a good day. Why? Because I’m posting my very first breakfast food on the blog. I made pancakes, and not just any pancakes, orange pumpkin pancakes. I had some leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge, and you know how much I love pumpkin, so I couldn’t resist making a jumbo stack of fluffy pancakes.

Squirrel (my hubby) isn’t a huge fan of pancakes (weird, I know), so I had to take on the task of eating the entire stack myself. I don’t make pancakes too often (thank you, Squirrel), so I was able to rise to the occasion. A jumbo stack of pancakes is no match for this gal; I took them down like a champ.

Hungry for pancakes? These are a must make pancake for fall. The warm pumpkin spice, zested orange peel, pumpkin puree, and fresh squeezed orange juice create the perfect fall pancake. I enjoyed these on Sunday with a homemade pumpkin spice latte, and they were delicious.

These pancakes only took me 5 minutes to mix up and 3 minutes to cook. You know what else is good? Pancakes for dinner. Talk about a quick meal, and the kiddies will feel like they’re getting a treat.

I like my pancakes crispy around the edges and fluffy on the inside with a hefty drizzle of maple syrup.

Enjoy!

 

Orange Pumpkin Pancakes

Dry

1 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. orange zest

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and orange zest. Whisk to combine.

Wet

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
4 tbs. pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a small bowl, combine milk, orange juice, melted butter, pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, whisk to combine.

Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat and add a drizzle of canola oil. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour batter onto the pan (if you like your pancakes smaller, use less batter). Cook until the top of the pancakes are full of bubbles and the bottom is golden brown. Turn with a spatula and brown the other sides. Serve with butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.

 

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