Rhubarb-banana-oat muffins

I have some friends that live on the west coast and have the luxury of getting Community Supported Agriculture boxes all year.  In Iowa... that's just not going to happen.  So I was stoked when we got our first ever CSA box from a local farm this week! Better yet, they DELIVER.  Not only am I excited to have healthy, local produce delivered to my door for a little Wednesday pick-me-up, but now I get the little challenge of figuring out how to put every last bit of this goodness to use. 

How yummy does this look?! 

So I put a post on Le Book of Faces (fancy talk for Facebook) to figure out what the heck I can do with Rhubarb. I mean, I know pie, but I didn't want to make a pie. I wanted to make something a little more healthy and a little less indulgent.  From what I hear, Rhubarb has been sparse this season, so I joked that having 3 cups of Rhubarb in my fridge was like having a bag of baby unicorns right there in the crisper drawer. 

I did a quick google search for "Rhubarb muffins" and found a few recipes... but nothing I fell in love with.  I generally like to stay away from white bleached flour, and white sugar if possible, so I sort of just sifted through a few recipes to figure out the measurements of the dry vs. wet, and decided to come up with my own recipe.  Oh, and I had some bananas on the counter that were screaming to be baked into something, so I knew I had to come up with something fairly versatile. 

Rhubarb-Banana-Oat Muffins

(And by default, these are vegan)

• 3-3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 overripe bananas well smashed
• 2 tablespoons ground flax mixed with 6 tablespoons hot water (or 2 eggs instead)
• 1-1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or buttermilk, coconut milk, etc)
• 1 cup vegetable oil (or any kind of oil)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups finely chopped rhubarb

Pre-heat oven to 375. In a large bowl combine the first 6 ingredients (I use a large whisk). In a sepearate bowl, combine the wet ingredients and fold into the dry mixture until everything is well moistened (don't over mix or you will be eating playdoh). Add the rhubarb by gently folding in. I used a small ice cream scoop to scoop batter into lined tins.  Bake for 16 minutes or until tested clean. 

This recipe yields 48 muffins.

And they are delicious.  The rhubarb gives the muffin a tangy kick, 

while the banana gives some sweetness and keeps the muffin super moist. 

And I wasn't the only person that loved them! I ate 2. Ok, 3. Ok I ate 4! In my defense, they were kind of small, plus it's almost Mother's Day, 

and also baby unicorns?! 

But the little people loved them too. In fact, the twins ate two each, and the bigger child o'mine ate his and said "Oh mommy, you really got this one right. Nice work". 

Ha.