Banana Zucchini Oatmeal Cups

Pretty oats.

I found these on Pinterest while searching for ways to use up zucchini puree, since the baby now LOVES steamed zucchini and I saw no reason to spoon-feed him the zucchini puree that was sitting in our freezer. When I read the super-healthy ingredient list, it sounded like something I would concoct myself, except that if I had concocted it myself it might have been disgusting for a few trial runs, and I trusted that this was a somewhat tested recipe.

Sure enough, it turned out exactly how I like it. Not very sweet, but sweet enough to not be disgusting. Not fluffy, but fluffiness is overrated. And it's FULL of healthy stuff.

My hope was that the almost-toddler would also like it, since he's sometimes weird about baked goods but he loves oatmeal and banana and zucchini. And indeed, it's a hit! He devoured half of one with his breakfast this morning.

They take a teeny bit more effort than I like to put into things these days, but I think it's worth it once in a while.

The Recipe (taken from hummusapien):

2 tb ground flax seed

6 tb water

1/4 c almond butter (peanut butter for low-FODMAP version)

1/4 c maple syrup

3 ripe bananas, mashed (unripe bananas for low-FODMAP version)

2 zucchini, pureed or grated

1/2 c almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 c rolled oats

1 tb baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 and prepare a muffin tin with liners and/or spray. (For me, it made 20 muffins; I worked in batches.)
Combine flax and water in a bowl. Stir and set aside to thicken.
Combine almond butter and maple syrup in a bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, and stir.
Mix wet ingredients (including flax mixture and almond butter mixture), then add dry.
Fill muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: A-

Overall reason: Pretty good flavor, so much nutrition, toddler approved.

Time to prepare: 10 minutes, plus 25 to bake

Baby quote: "Mmm! Mmm!" (Which means he wants more.)

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