It’s been a crazy week this week! My 3 kids started back to school, we said good-bye to our babysitter of 12 years, my kids are growing up (sniff, sniff!). So, I have been a little preoccupied with that. I mentioned the other day about the Cheerios Challenge, and when I was looking at their web site I saw a recipe for muffins. I changed the recipe up, as the original called for raisins (I don’t like raisins) and as far as I’m concerned, its always better with a few chocolate chips! It also called for buttermilk, but I used skim milk instead, and I also added some ground flax seed. They turned out great. It’s a quick and easy thing to eat on busy school days, or just getting yourself to work!
Cheerios Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- 2 cups cheerios – crush them in a bag
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 2 mashed bananas
- 2/3 cup skim milk
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed* (optional)
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix cereal, flours, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in remaining ingredients until moistened. Divide evenly between the muffin cups. Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. (I would set your timer for 15 minutes and check, mine were done in about 17 minutes). Let stand about 2 minutes in pan, then place them on a cookie rack to cool.
- 140 calories
- 3 fat
- 2 fiber
Buttermilk is actually a lot healthier than everybody thinks. I was shocked when I found out- I always thought it was like heavy cream!
From Wikipedia:
Buttermilk is lower in fat and calories than regular milk because the fat from buttermilk has already been removed to make butter. It is high in potassium, vitamin B12 and calcium. Buttermilk is more easily digestible than whole milk and it also contains more lactic acid than skim milk. There are 99 calories and 2.2 grams of fat in one cup of buttermilk (fat content may be different with some buttermilk brands), as opposed to whole milk that has 157 calories and 8.9 grams of fat.
Thanks Christina, I’ll have to try it!