Banana oat muffins with almonds and blueberries (wheat free recipe for cholesterol reduction)

It’s Day 1 of Oat Week at The Curious Giraffe!

Today we are making muffins with oat flour and absolutely NO wheat.

Before Oat Week gets underway, I wanted to clarify something. Why all this fuss about going ‘wheat-free’ or ‘flourless’ and using oats instead of wheat?

Cardiologist William Davis, MD, author of Wheat Belly sums up wheat nicely (all forms including supposedly healthy forms like whole wheat, sprouted, etc.)  as “incredibly destructive genetic monsters”.  His fascinating account of the genetic modification of wheat over the last 50 years into today’s unrecognizable and highly dangerous form is white knuckle, yet critical reading if you still eat wheat and have any beliefs that wheat is safe, harmless or benign in any way to eat. It isn’t, and I strongly recommend avoiding it 100% in all forms for at least one month to see what happens to your weight loss, energy levels, cholesterol levels, and overall feelings of improved health.

Banana oat muffins with almonds and blueberries (wheat free recipe for cholesterol reduction)

Wheat is no longer the same as it was originally created by nature. Not only does it have an extremely negative impact on your heart health and cholesterol levels, but it makes you eat more than you need to, is addictive, stimulates fat storage, ages us faster, causes inflammation, erodes cartilage, damages bone, activates auto-immune diseases, and leads to neurological disorders, diabetes, arthritis, and rashes.  To learn more pick up Wheat Belly, and you can also read a roundup here of some of the ways that supposedly “heart-healthy” wheat can destroy your health.

“Eat more healthy whole grains” is, in my view, the most widely broadcasted nutritional blunder being repeated over and over again on a national–no, international–scale. It is responsible for the obesity crisis, the skyrocketing rates of diabetes, not to mention record revenue growth in agribusiness and Big Food. While the pharmaceutical industry likewise profits in a big way from the health consequences of this perverse message, it’s everyday people who are paying the health price.”  – Dr. William Davis, Cardiologist

MAIN BENEFITS / WHY EAT THIS?

  • Avoids dangerous wheat while still offering the convenience of baked goods
  • Cholesterol lowering
  • Heart healthy
  • Weight reduction

My love of this recipe is based on the ability to have something bite-sized and handy to eat for the AM or snack attacks throughout the rest of the day. There is also this intangible quality of baking that I’m so happy to have again in my life. The comforting satisfaction of a lovely aroma drifting through the house! When you are not cooking with wheat, you don’t get the same rising effect, and so the muffins are much denser than you will be used to. Keep in mind that these are completely guilt-free, and that for every 3 muffins you eat, you are eating 1 whole banana and almost 3/4 cups of oats!

Banana oat muffins with almonds and blueberries (wheat free recipe for cholesterol reduction)

My love of this recipe is based on the ability to have something bite-sized and handy to eat for the AM or snack attacks throughout the rest of the day. There is also this intangible quality of baking that I’m so happy to have again in my life. The comforting satisfaction of a lovely aroma drifting through the house! When you are not cooking with wheat, you don't get the same rising effect, and so the muffins are much denser than you will be used to. Keep in mind that these are completely guilt-free, and that for every 3 muffins you eat, you are eating 1 whole banana and almost 3/4 cups of oats!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nutrient Rich, Refined Sugar Free
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12
Author Laura Livesey

Ingredients

Dry

  • 3 cups oats
  • 1 cup almonds
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda


Wet


  • 1.5 cups roughly 1 punnet of blueberries

Optional: Throw in a handful of nuts of your choice (this makes muffins a bit drier)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350 F)
  2. Throw the first 5 ingredients below into your blender (preferably high speed, but normal blenders work too), and grind up together into a flour. Then pour into a bowl.
  3. Throw these wet ingredients into your blender and blend until smooth
  4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and mix as little as possible until just combined
  5. Fold the blueberries and nuts gently into the mixture
  6. Line your muffin tin with “easy-release” muffin tin liners (the "if you care" brand ones are amazing), fill them to overflowing (they won't rise, so create a mound with with your batter), and then place your muffin tin in oven to bake until they are golden brown.
  7. When baked, let them rest on a cooling rack for a few minutes before you devour them!

Enjoy with either some heart healthy fats like coconut butter spread on top, or some natural butter (grass-fed cows make awesome heart healthy butter! Try to steer (hehe) clear of grain-fed butter.)

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]