Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Muffins (Gluten-Free)

These chocolate chip banana oatmeal muffins are sweet, moist and filling. They make for a sweet breakfast or a healthy-ish dessert and they’re also great for snacking.

Who else loves the combination of bananas and chocolate? Someone please tell me why this combination is so darn good? I guess chocolate goes well with anything really. But I feel like bananas and chocolate have an extra special relationship, you know? Maybe they were married in another life.

Yes, I really just said that. I don’t even know why I write the things I do sometimes. Or why I don’t go back and delete some of the things I write. Now I’m sitting here imagining a banana wearing a wedding dress and a chocolate bar wearing a tux. And now I’m reversing the outfits on both the banana and the chocolate bar.

This is apparently what goes on in my sleep deprived mind. Oh who am I kidding, this is the real me. I’m goofy. Or maybe I’m daffy. I don’t know.

Let me put my serious hat on now so I can tell you about these seriously good muffins. This recipe is based off of my pumpkin oatmeal muffins with the main difference being that I substituted mashed ripe banana for the pumpkin. The banana adds a little extra sweetness to these muffins and helps keep them moist.

I’m a big fan of oatmeal these days – I have several oatmeal recipes on my blog – but that wasn’t always the case. A few years ago, I followed a strict paleo diet and instead of oatmeal, I ate this no-oatmeal porridge or these n’oatmeal cookies.

Well, I decided to add oats (gluten-free certified) back into my diet during my pregnancy and never looked back. I ate a lot of oatmeal when I was breastfeeding because oatmeal is said to be a lactogenic ingredient (in other words: it can help new mamas increase their breastmilk supply). Personally, I feel like it helped me. I have several lactation recipes on the blog and while this could be one of them, this recipe is really for everyone. My toddler and my husband both love these muffins.

That said – if you are wondering what to make for a new mama friend, then definitely add these oatmeal muffins to your list. So many of my Pittsburgh friends are either new mamas or pregnant right now so I’ve been baking a lot of oatmeal based recipes lately. I recently made these banana muffins and cinnamon raisin mini-muffins for a new mama and I put extra batches in the freezer for some soon-to-be mamas who will be delivering soon. I never go empty-handed to a new mother’s house – if you have a new mom friend, please bring her snacks or a meal. Everyone always remembers to take a gift for the baby (obviously) but don’t forget the mama who labored for hours and probably hasn’t slept in days/weeks/months! There is no better gift for a new mother than the gift of food and the gift of your time (help her clean, watch the baby while she sleeps or takes a shower, etc).

One more thing – if you are making these for a breastfeeding mama – try adding a tablespoon of brewer’s yeast (another lactogenic ingredient) to the batter. You can’t taste it and it won’t affect the texture of the muffins.

I am sure I’ll be sharing more oatmeal recipes in the coming weeks. If you have any ideas for fun flavor combinations, let me know. And bonus points if the flavors you suggest were also married in another life ( if you have no idea what I’m talking about, read the first paragraph and don’t judge me).

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