Whole Wheat Banana Strawberry Muffins

School has started for several of my friends and their families. We start early here in Southern Arizona mostly because we want the kids in school when its hot and out of school when its nice out. Plus, when the time off from school is shorter they don't forget as much. So they are out in early May before the heat wave of summer and go back in July or the first week of August. Then get a nice long fall break in October when all the heat is gone. My son has "learning time" 4 times a week as he's working through first grade math, geography, and reading materials - so you could say that school for us has started too - although we really didn't stop for the summer except for 2 weeks while on vacation.  

So in light of the joyous occasion of trying to feed everyone in a timely manner and get everyone to school and work on time - always a struggle in my house. Lol you should see us scramble on Sundays for church. But no worries. Here is a delicious problem solver at least for 1 or 2 days of the week. It is a healthy and super easy muffin recipe to whip up. Serve this along side some scrambled eggs if you have time, or just grab with a piece of fruit and go. Let them eat in the car. I am impressed that they really didn't crumble or leave many crumbs behind - its a very kid friendly and non messy mom approved portable breakfast idea. 

This recipe is from Krista at Joyful Healthy Eats. She has some amazing looking food on her blog. I really meant to change up the recipe. I absolutely love walnuts and strawberries together and I had them next to me when I was mixing it up but it didn't somehow make it into the bowl. Similarly, the turbinado sugar, a brown crunchy topping, that I adore to put on top of ANY baked goods was somehow left on the counter too. I love texture in my food and after my first bite I was mentally hitting myself for forgetting those two elements. Can I blame this on being pregnant? I don't know. Wink.. So no changes were made to the original recipe except the brand and flavor of the yogurt. Even vanilla yogurt has extra sugar that I wanted to avoid. Enjoy :) 

Makes 12 muffins - serving size 1 or 2 

Prep + baking time: 30 minutes

special equipment: cooling rack, muffin/cupcake pan, stand mixer helps but not necessary 

Ingredients:
2 cups of White Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup of light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup of coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
½ cup of plain greek yogurt (used one small container)
1 large egg
1½ cup of strawberries, chopped (6 strawberries)
optional nuts (1/4 cup - 1/2 cup)
optional raw turbinado sugar (a dash for the top of each one)

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl combine the bananas, brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla extract, yogurt, and egg. Blend it until its homogeneous - approx 2 minutes. 

2. To the same bowl add in the remaining ingredients except for the strawberries and nuts if you are adding those and not forgetting them like I did. Mix well but not overdoing it. 

3. Preheat your oven to 350. 

4. Fold in your strawberries and or nuts. 

5. Spray your cupcake/muffin pan and/or liners with nonstick spray. I usually use liners just to make the muffins portable if I need them to be. 

6. Divide the batter evenly with a soft spatula or a spoon. It is thick but it won't be dense I promise. If using, top each uncooked muffin with turbinado sugar for a nice surprising crunch and sparkle. 

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or whenever they are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Mine were done in 20 minutes but my oven usually cooks things a little fast. 

8. Let them sit for a few minutes on a cooling rack in the pan. Then transfer for a few more minutes onto the rack. Cool completely if storing for your next busy school filled morning. Feel free to go hide someplace and sleep like my cat did :) 

Stephanie