Skinny Monkey Oatmeal Muffins

***Recipe and post updated May 2023***

You guys, I might actually be obsessed with oatmeal muffins, and these Skinny Monkey Oatmeal Muffins are no different! I haven’t even had overnight oats for at least a month at this point!  And I just keep thinking of more and more flavor combos to do with these, and they’ve all been freakin’ awesome.  This is another fun combo that’s reminiscent of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor “Chunky Monkey” – except this one is a bit healthier.

Can I also say that I feel way better about making these now that I have a dishwasher that actually cleans my silicone baking cups completely?  If you were on the fence about buying some for yourself, don’t worry…my dishwasher in San Francisco was manufactured in 1980.  Seriously.  I do not miss those terrible old appliances!

I call for chocolate chunks in this recipe because they’re really fun.  There’s just more chocolate to them than a regular old chip has.  And that’s never a bad thing in my book!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Rolled oats – I love to see the whole oats in my oatmeal muffins, but don’t worry – they’re baked to perfect tenderness! Other types of oats like quick oats or steel cut oats will behave differently, so I don’t recommend swapping this ingredient.

Milk – Use whatever neutral tasting milk you prefer! I used almond milk, which doesn’t have a strong flavor. Some non-dairy milks have a really strong flavor or are overly sweet – I’d stay away from those in this recipe.

Applesauce – Adds volume, sweetness, and moisture without watering the muffin batter down. Runny muffin batter will lead to totally flat muffins, which no one wants.

Egg whites – These are the glue that bring the dough together and add a bit of protein too.

Protein powder – I used a whey/casein blend in this recipe. Whey alone tends to yield a chewy baked product that doesn’t rise nearly as much, but it’s okay to use in a pinch. If you opt for a plant based protein powder, you’ll need to increase the amount of almond milk to about 1 cup.

Baking powder – This gives the muffins a good rise as they cook, plus helps add air in the final muffins, meaning they’re less dense.

Baking soda – This helps the muffins rise much like the baking powder, but it also helps them get that beautiful golden brown color.

Diced bananas – Bananas are key to both the sweetness and flavor of these muffins – be sure to use nice ripe ones so they’re good and sweet. Resist the urge to mash them though – you want them in chunks rather than mashed like a liquid so they don’t weigh the muffins down too much.

Chocolate chunks – For maximum meltiness, I highly recommend buying a dark chocolate bar (find them in the baking section) and chopping it up yourself. Sure, you could buy pre-made chocolate chunks, but they are usually coated with something to keep them from sticking. That interferes with melting and nobody wants that!

Maple Syrup – You need a bit of extra sweetness to bring out all the flavors.

Peanut butter – Adds some much needed fat to the muffins, keeping them from being dry and crumbly. You could also just use the egg yolks or opt for another nut butter, but I like the bit of extra sweetness that comes from the peanut butter.

Vanilla extract – Like salt in a savory dish, vanilla tends to enhance the flavors of a sweet recipe.

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