Lately I’ve been on a wheat/gluten-free kick and loving it. A few weeks ago I looked around my kitchen and realized that I had sunk into a pile of doughy chunkster-hood, a lifestyle I was not eager to continue. Dinners consisted of cheesy quesadillas that sat in my stomach like liquid lead, lunch was a sandwich that had me diving into multiple-hour food comas, and snacks were sugary cookies with an obnoxiously addictive energy high/low roller coaster.

I’d had enough. Aside from my feelings of grubby grossness, it was incredibly boring to use the same ingredients night after night and I couldn’t seem to break the habit. No more!

I found these oat-banana muffins on Pinterest shortly after I made the decision of the century, but I felt they were a bit lacking. Very tasty with a smear of peanut butter, but not super-star status on it’s own. I decided to hybridize them with my favorite recipe, Cook’s Illustrated Coffee Cake Muffins. Totes amazing.

Cinnamon- banana goodness that was moist and had a nice texture. They got rave reviews, but then again I did badger my family incessantly and they might have just been trying to get rid of me.

Banana Coffee Cake Muffins
A combination of C&E breakfast muffins and Cook’s Illustrated Coffee Cake
2.5 c oats
3/4 c yogurt
2 eggs
2/3 c sugar
1.5 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
6 T butter, softened

Streusel:
1/2 c pecans
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 t cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400. Blend the streusel ingredients in a food processor until crumbly. Set aside and place 2 cups of the oats in the processor. Blend until fine, then add the sugar and salt. Scatter the butter and pulse the mixture until coarse, about 10 1-second pulses. Remove 3/4 c and add to the streusel mixture. Set aside 3/4 c of this for the batter; the rest will go on top of the muffins when they go into the oven.

Add the baking powder and baking soda to the food processor/flour mixture. Whisk together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and bananas, then add to the processor. Blend until smooth and then put in the streusel mixture. Pulse two or three times; there should be a bit of a “ribbon” of streusel throughout, but don’t be disappointed if it blends in. Because the batter is very wet, it won’t remain super intact.

Divide the batter into greased muffin tins and top with the remaining streusel. Bake for 15 minutes,  until golden brown or when a knife comes out clean. They are best warm, but freeze well, too.

Enjoy!