I love to treat myself with food and clothes, jewellery and shoes…oh and handbags and sometimes comestics. I think giving yourself a gift is an act of self-appreciation. Perhaps it’s slightly on the superficial side but whatever works for me right? 
Every year as always, I’ll shower myself with birthday gifts. Yes, not just one gift but plenty of gifts. I thought since I don’t have any children to dictate the way I spend, it’s going to be all about myself and I (okay, sometimes my better half :P) all the way until the day my children’s wellbeing and education funds are my priority.
On day-to-day basis, every little thing counts as a treat. For me, it can be kisses from my beloved, sipping soy latte from my favourite cafe or simply a straightforward baking like these banana,oatmeal and cranberries muffins in the middle of work week.
You don’t need a bad day or hearbreak to start treating yourself. A good start will be relieving yourself from monotonous routines by baking something sweet and simple like muffins. 
(This may only apply if you’re not a full time baker. :P)
{BOO!!!! Scary face muffins! :P}
Banana Oatmeal Cranberry Muffins
(minor tweaked from dailyunadventuresincooking.com)
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons maple flavoured golden syrup
1 cup plain flour
1 3/4 cup oats
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
muffin cups
Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 350F / 170 degrees Celsius.
2. Prepare a muffin tin with muffin cups.
3. Beat together bananas, milk, oil, golden syrup, sugar and egg in a bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, oats, baking powder, and salt.
5. Stir dry into wet until just combined.
6. Add in walnuts and raisins.
7. Spoon evenly into muffin tin and top each muffin with cranberries and walnuts.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
{Rise and shine to a delicious muffin!}
they look delicious! may I have some?
If you live close to me, definitely.
I love the little faces you made on the muffins! At first I thought I was just ‘seeing’ things but read a little more and saw that they are in fact intentional. I love your perspective, that everything is a little treat. I’m going to adopt that, I think it’s a great way to make sure to appreciate each and every day.
The scary face was to capture the Halloween spirit. Sometimes I tend to miss little things around me but when I learn to appreciate these things, I feel happy and optimistic.
These look great! Did you use old-fashioned oatmeal or “quick” oatmeal (cooks in 5 minutes)? Or maybe it doesn’t matter.
I don’t think it matters but for me I’ve used quick oatmeal.
I have got a pair of brown speckly bananas that are screaming ‘muffins’.
So muffins it is!
I would not say no to one of those for breakfast!
Me too,
These muffins look so sweet and delicious! Definitely the kind of way I would treat myself!
Hi Peggy,
Thanks for your lovely comment. They are delicious and couldn’t get enough of them….
These muffins look so tasty and perfect for the fall. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure. Thanks for your comment.
Yum! Nice hearty muffin.
The oaty factor surely makes these muffins hearty, delicious and healthy.
These look fantastic! Is it possible to substitute whole wheat flour? And any way to use something other than oil? I’m new to baking and looking for some healthy treats. this one looks good! Thanks!
Hi Lisa,
The original recipe uses whole wheat flour, so yes to substituting with whole wheat flour.
I’m not sure about substituting with oil, I’m thinking yoghurt maybe? That said, I haven’t tried with yoghurt instead of oil, so better not take my word for it.
And thanks for your comment.
Yum, I just saw these in my sidebar on my F.B. gadget-they look too wholesome and delicious;-)!
Thanks for your comment Stella.
I just made a batch of these this morning. They’re so yummy. I’ll be linking to your recipe from my blog.
Hi Limor,
Glad that you’ve enjoyed the recipe.
Wow, these sound delicious! I love the addition of the cranberries!
Hi Kori,
I like the sourish taste of cranberries and thanks for your lovely comment.
Fun looking muffins! So healthy too, wish I have some now with my cup of tea:)
Hi Jeannie,
Thanks for your kind words.These muffins are perfect with tea or coffee.
I love the fun smiley faces! These are something I see myself baking…
Hi Simran,
I’m going for a Halloween theme here but I think the “decoration” was more obvious before baking. I think pecan would make a better “mouth” for the smiley instead of walnut.
Went searching for a Sunday morning muffin recipe and I found it! How could I pass up trying the smiley faces out for myself
I made these just the other day…sorry again for changing the recipe a little bit…it’s not for the variation but I try to use what I have around the house instead of going to buy new ingredients…life is not cheap with two kinds around…
So, first of all I used 3 bananas instead of two..there was no point in wasting a perfectly good ripe banana which nobody is going to eat anyway…then I used a mixture o wholemeal cereals(rye,oats and wheat)instead of plain oats which I didn’t have in the house…as bananas are a little bit bland in taste while cooked(simply my opinion, don’t have to agree), I also put a handful of sliced sour cherries and a handful of raisins previously soaked in hot water with rum extract..this gave the mixture the pinch it needed…on top I put some berries(blackberries and raspberries mostly..I had some frozen). Finally, as I had a few berries left,I made some kind of sauce to go with it…I boiled them with some water, strained and mashed the mixture to get rid af all those little pits that get stuck in your teeth…then put them back on the stove, added 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and a heaping spoon of honey and served hot…I tell you it was worth every crumb….