Greetings from the height of flu hysteria here in the US, or Flusteria 2013, as I like to call it. We’ve managed to dodge the flu bullet so far, but between Ed’s airplane travel and three kids in three different schools, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before one of us falls. I’m a little scared. When I’m scared, I bake. (Note: I also bake when I am happy and sad and excited and disappointed.) Don’t ask me how that diet is coming along.

Believe it or not, for every recipe I post, there are ten more that don’t make the cut. I have gotten in the habit of taking pictures of everything I make, just in case it turns out to be THE BEST THING EVER, but usually I’m just left with a lot of (sometimes unidentifiable) food pictures on my iPhone. To be honest, I never expected this recipe to make the cut. I was reasonably certain my kids would hate these muffins and at best I’d have an amusing story to share about how disgusting they were. Wrong!

My boys are now 16, 11 and 9, and they come home from school starving every afternoon. Once the weekly ration of junk food is gone, it is gone, and I refuse to buy any more until my next scheduled shopping trip. We always have fruit, veggies and dip, peanut butter and jelly, etc. but things like pretzels and chips and cookies/cupcakes are purchased in limited weekly quantities. This does not always go over well, but I don’t think my kids benefit from eating crappy food before dinner seven days a week. They buy the school lunch and are able to purchase snack foods during lunchtime, so it’s not like they’re subsisting on organic apples alone. Don’t feel too sorry for them!

I decided to use after-school-feeding-frenzy time to my advantage yesterday, as hungry people are not always very particular about what they shove into their gullets. If there was ever a time they would willingly eat a green muffin, it would be after school. Not only did they eat it, they begged for more and asked me to make these every day. I’m still a little shocked about that, but I’m happy to ride this wave as long as possible.

These muffins are not exactly healthy, but they are better than a lot of processed alternatives. I used oat flour, which I made easily in my Vitamix, but you can certainly use all-purpose wheat flour if you prefer.

Incredible Hulk Muffins

WET INGREDIENTS
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup (or less) brown sugar
1 banana
1/2 cup walnuts
large handful of kale

DRY INGREDIENTS
2 cups oat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 (or more) cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy duty blender, mix wet ingredients (including walnuts and kale) until completely smooth. This may take a couple minutes, depending on the blender, but we don’t want any walnut or kale pieces.

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients until well combined. Being careful not to over mix, pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined. Spray or oil a standard muffin tin and fill with about 1/2 cup of mixture per muffin. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.