Blueberry Banana Muffins

 School started back on January 10th, and since then my time has mainly been spent with these guys.

I have also been testing out some new recipes so there will definitely be quite a few Food posts in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for those.  Today's post is all about my all time favorite muffins.  These muffins have absolutely no added sugar or preservatives.  They are naturally sweetened by fruit and have major staying power. I especially love these topped with natural peanut butter right before a workout. At the bottom of the recipe I have posted some substitutions, so if you don't have a particular ingredient on hand or have an allergy you should still be able to enjoy these.  Also, even though I'm not a calorie counter I have also included the nutrition facts for those trying to watch their calorie intake, to show that even all natural, unprocessed foods can be delicious and low in calories.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Ingredients

3 Bananas

¼ Cup Natural No Sugar Added Applesauce

¼ Cup Egg Whites

½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

½ Cup Old Fashioned Oats

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

½ Teaspoon Baking Soda

⅛ Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Blueberries

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. Mash bananas and mix in applesauce, egg whites, and vanilla extract.

3. Add flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the liquid mixture.

4. Fold blueberries into the batter.

5. Portion batter into muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Nutrition Information  Per Muffin: 104 Calories, 0.7 grams of Fat, 22.2 grams of Carbohydrates, 5.6 grams of Sugar, and 2.9 grams of Protein

Notes

Bananas Mashed with Fork

This recipe is very easy to make using a mixer, but I did mix the entire recipe by hand just to show that it is possible to make all natural foods without having in special gadgets. If mixing by hand, you can use a whisk to mix the wet ingredients, but I do recommend using a rubber spatula once you add the dry ingredients because the mixture is very thick.

I recommend using a ice cream scoop to perfectly portion out the batter.  If using silicone muffin pans, once the muffins have cooled, push the bottom of each muffin mold and muffins will easily pop out. Since there is no oil in this recipe the muffins, if you use metal pans be sure to use muffin liners or grease the muffin tins.

Substitutions

This recipe uses very basic ingredients that most of you probably already have in your house; however, if you don't have all of the ingredients or if you have an allergy to some of these ingredients, I have listed some substitutions that do not interfere with the chemical structure of the recipe. Please be aware that any substitutions will alter the listed nutritional information.

Basic Ingredients

Applesauce: The applesauce is used in place of oil. If you prefer to use oil instead, then I recommend coconut oil, which is much less processed than vegetable oil; however, if vegetable oil is your only option it can be used in this recipe.

Egg Whites: If you do not have the liquid egg whites then you can use the whites of two eggs, which should equal ¼ cup. If you prefer to use the whole egg instead of just the whites, then use one egg.

Whole Wheat Flour: You could use another whole grain flour, such as spelt, and the recipe will still turn out the same. You could also use whole wheat pastry flour which would make the muffin lighter which some people prefer, but I prefer a dense muffin so I use whole wheat flour. If you have a gluten allergy both oat or almond flour can be used.

Old Fashioned Oats: I have never tried this recipe with quick oats or steel cut oats, but I don’t see any reason why they would not work with this recipe, so if you don’t have any old fashioned oats on hand try out one of the others.