flax seed meal | sweet + natural

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii.

I’m back! You’ll have to forgive me for the past couple months. They were arguably the busiest of my entire life. But I am baking once again! Before we get into the details of my latest delicious creation, here’s a brief recap of recent events to give some context for my absence and perhaps entice understanding from my wonderfully patient readers:

Moved into my new apartment
Unpacked – umm…amidst the busyness, this took several weeks
Waited for cable / internet to be installed…twice – thanks for not showing up the first time Time Warner!
Travled to Rhode Island for a weekend to attend a wedding
Planned and conducted a major brainstorming workshop for clients at work
Cheered for the Cardinals at a Mets game – they’re in the playoffs now!
Celebrated a good friend’s birthday
Drove to CT and back for work meetings – times two
Vacationed in Europe with Dan for 10 days – an absolute DREAM! If this were a travel blog, I could do a billion posts about that trip!
Worked 75+ hour weeks for a month straight, including through Labor Day weekend…
…while I was in Chicago visiting my sister – and having lunch with Jenn!
Traveled across the country for a week to watch market research focus groups
Played host to my parents while they were in NYC for a weekend
Researched and bought a new bike – wheeee!
Brunched with old friends from high school
Went to several doctor appointments
Plus a whole bunch of other very important stuff that I need to keep secret for now…shhh…

Whew! A lot of work (sad…) but a lot of fun (happy!) in there too. With all of the above going on, I haven’t had much time – or kitchen access! – to make my own meals, let alone do any awesome baking. However, the dust seems to be settling – knock on wood – so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

To kick it off, let’s play a little game of Train of Thought, shall we? I’ll show you how I decided to make what I’m sharing with you right now!

Today = October. October = fall. Fall = pumpkin. Pumpkin = great oatmeal mix-in. Great oatmeal = pumpkin + mashed banana + flax + … Ooh – I got it!

These Pumpkin Banana Oat Muffins both welcome the new season and celebrate my re-found ability to make breakfast in the morning. Pumpkin, banana, flax and maple syrup are the ingredients that make up my favorite bowl of oatmeal – and they’re now brought to you in muffin form! Top these off with some peanut butter and you’re good to go. Yum!

Here’s my recipe for Pumpkin Banana Oat Muffins, adapted from this recipe:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 cup flax seed meal

2/3 cup maple syrup

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup oats

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375*F. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, mashed bananas, vanilla, eggs, flax seed meal and maple syrup until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix whole wheat pastry flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just blended. Pour into prepared muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes. Makes 18 muffins.

I was quite pleased with these muffins! Seems like the ole baking skills haven’t gotten too rusty from lack of use. Dan liked them too – though his enthusiasm might have been more reflective of the fact that I was baking anything at all! Moist, chewy and filled with healthy ingredients – they’re a perfect way to start the day.

Do you eat oatmeal? What would your fall + oatmeal muffins look like?