Quaker Oat Whole Grain Banana Muffins

I've made these muffins on two occasions and both times they've turned out delicious. I don't like bananas very much, but I LOVE banana bread. I was hoping to make a healthy alternative to the bread and found this recipe at the website for Quaker Oats.

The recipe is very easy to follow and they bake quickly. Also, I've found that they keep very well and I can imagine that they would freeze well for long-term storage as well.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
5 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 egg whites or 1 egg, lightly beaten

Each time I've made them I've left out the nuts as I don't like them very much. Also, I've used margarine (the trans fat free kind) and egg whites.

To bake them:
Heat oven to 400°F.
Line twelve medium muffin cups with paper baking cups or spray bottoms only with cooking spray.
In large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, nuts, if desired, baking powder and baking soda; mix well.
In medium bowl, combine bananas, margarine, milk and egg whites; blend well. Add to dry Ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not overmix.)
Fill muffin cups almost full. Bake 17 to 19 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool muffins in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Serve warm.

I'm a huge fan of bananas with peanut butter. I experimented a bit one with with adding peanut butter to some extra batter that I had. They were also yummy, but I'd need to experiment some more to determine the optimal quantity of peanut butter to use.

I used nutritiondata.com to determine the nutritional information per serving (using margarine, and egg whites and without nuts). Each muffin has 175 calories, 5g fat, 2g saturated fat, 1mg cholesterol, 108mg sodium, 31g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 5% Vit A, 3% Vit C, 8% Calcium, and 8% iron. Each muffin is also a good source of other vitams such as B-12, potassium, and B-6, phosphorus, and thiamin.

The link to the original recipe at Quaker Oats' website is HERE