Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Oh. My. Goodness.

The Bachelorette is a nail biter tonight friends.

I can honestly say I have no idea who she's going to pick. I know who she should pick though.

Sean. He's dreamy. He spells his name wrong but his blue eyes forgive that. 

Plus, have you seen him without his shirt off? Yeah, exactly.

Perhaps she shouldn't pick him...hmm...

I shouldn't be admitting how into this stupid show I get. 

Muffins.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Adapted from BakingBites.com

Ingredients:

3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 med.)
6 tbsp peanut butter (pref. creamy)
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs, mashed banana, peanut butter and buttermilk until very smooth, making sure all egg has been well-incorporated. Pour into flour mixture and stir until no streaks of flour remain.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin tin, filling each just about up to the top.
Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
Remove muffins from tin and cool on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Pudding Muffins

I am slightly ashamed of myself.

We all know I love fall. This is my favorite time of the year to get in the kitchen and throw pumpkin in everything...and I have in fact been going crazy in the kitchen...

But I seem to be lacking the time to share all the fall goodies and things that make me squeel with delight.

It is already nearing the end of October and I haven't posted pumpkin-anything. What the heck!!

So to make up for it, I'm going to link some of my favorite fall recipes from the past and continue to try my best to share with you all of the things that have been making me fat, and happy.

Low-Calorie Pumpkin Bread (you can't even tell it's low-calorie, seriously)
Pumpkin Spice Granola (your house will smell a.m.a.z.i.n.g.)
German Pumpkin Cheesecake (one of my all-time favorite things I have EVER made)
Pumpkin Cream Puffs (the filling alone is to-die-for)
Pumpkin Roll (classic. just like Grandma made it)
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (you read right)

I decided to make muffins this year. I had this little box of pumpkin spice pudding just begging for me to do something with it...this recipe is actually for pumpkin bread but I swapped out the flour for some pudding and tried out the recipe for both pumpkin bread and muffins...

The bread didn't work out too well. But the muffins rocked. They were moist for days. Seriously.

Ingredients:

1/2 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3.4 oz box pumpkin spice instant pudding (dry)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, pudding, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Peach Muffins

Shawn was leaving for the road again with his friend/co-worker Anthony. I wanted to make them a little something for the long drive. Seeing as to how I have to eat whatever I make, I wanted to make something healthy(ish)...These muffins turned out okay...I changed up the recipe to include wheat flour and I think I messed up the whole wheat/all-purpose flour ratio. They were just a little too dense and somewhat bland (sorry boys!) These muffins have great potential, so I think with the right tweaks they will be wonderful. Peaches are my favorite fruit so I will be sure to try these again with the following recipe...

Whole Wheat Peach Muffins
Adapted from Tasteofhome.com

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen peaches, thawed
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Directions:

In a bowl, beat egg; add milk and oil. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; stir into the egg mixture just until moistened. Stir in the peaches.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a pinch or two of the dark brown sugar. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 10 muffins.