There is more oats than flour in this batter — a cup and a half against one cup — which makes the rest between mixing and baking the step that decides the texture rather than an optional nicety.
Ten minutes is enough for the oats to soften and take up some of the milk and banana. Skip it and the same batter bakes heavier, because the oats do that absorbing in the oven instead.
Why This Recipe Works
- Three very ripe bananas, about a cup and a quarter mashed, carry most of the sweetness and nearly all of the moisture.
- Resting the batter shifts liquid into the oats before baking, so the crumb sets around softened oats rather than dry ones.
- Everything goes into one bowl in two stages, wet then dry, and is folded only until no dry flour remains — the batter is meant to stay thick.
- Filling the cups nearly to the top is what produces the domed tops the recipe bakes toward.
Ingredient Notes
- Old-fashioned rolled oats
- A cup and a half, and rolled rather than quick — the ten-minute rest is calibrated to soften them, and quick oats would go further than that.
- Very ripe bananas
- Three, about a cup and a quarter mashed. The recipe specifies very ripe, which is where both the sweetness and the moisture come from.
- Milk or plain yogurt
- A third of a cup, either one. Some of it is destined for the oats rather than the crumb.
How to Make It
Heat the oven and line the tin
Oven to 375F (190C), and a 12-cup muffin tin lined with papers.
Mash and whisk the wet
In a large bowl, mash the bananas well, then whisk in the brown sugar, oil or melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla until smooth.
Fold the dry straight in
Add the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt to the same bowl and fold just until no dry flour remains. It will be a thick batter.
Rest ten minutes
Leave the batter alone so the oats soften and absorb some of the liquid. This is the step that changes the crumb.
Fill nearly to the top
Divide between the twelve cups, a generous third of a cup each, filling them nearly full.
Bake to a clean pick
Bake 18 to 22 minutes, until the tops are domed and a pick pushed into the centre comes out clean.
Rest, then lift out
Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting the muffins onto a rack.
One Bowl, In Order
Everything meets in the same bowl, but the order and the pause between stages are what the recipe is actually specifying.
First
Bananas, mashed well
Mashed before anything joins them, so there are no lumps to chase later.
Straight after
Brown sugar, oil or melted butter, eggs, milk, vanilla
Whisked into the banana until smooth. This is the whole wet stage.
Then
Oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt
Added dry into the same bowl and folded only until no flour shows.
Ten minutes later
Nothing — the pause is the ingredient
The oats soften and take up liquid. The batter thickens noticeably.
Into the tin
A generous 1/3 cup per cup, nearly to the top
18 to 22 minutes at 375F, until domed and a pick comes out clean.
Success Tips
- Do not skip the ten minutes; it is the difference between oats that have softened and oats that soften in the oven at the crumb's expense.
- Fold rather than beat once the dry goes in — a thick batter worked hard turns tough.
- Fill nearly to the top rather than two-thirds, since this batter does not spread much and the domes come from the volume.
Serving Ideas
Twelve muffins from one tin, meant as a breakfast treat rather than a dessert.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the batter rest for ten minutes?
So the oats soften and absorb some of the liquid before baking. There is more oats than flour here, so that absorption changes the finished texture.
Can I use quick oats?
The recipe calls for old-fashioned rolled oats. The rest time is set for those, so a finer oat would behave differently.
How ripe should the bananas be?
Very ripe — the recipe is specific about it, and three of them should give about a cup and a quarter mashed.
