Apparently all I eat are cookies, banana bread and granola. I swear my meals consist of normal foods too like chicken and vegetables or whatever.
But in-between these “normal whatever” meals I eat cookies, banana bread and granola. Oh and cupcakes if there happens to be some occasion where cupcakes just have to be made. So like any excuse humanly possible. Let’s not forget deep dish cookie cakes…
Okay I’ll stop. And I promise to post a vegetable recipe soon or something involving quinoa because quiona is healthy and trendy and we all jump at the idea of it.
Until we dive into our quinoa fetish, let’s make muffins. With apple butter as a main ingredient. Who knew my favorite banana bread recipe would end up being the healthiest? No refined sugar, no oils, no butter…Wait don’t stop reading, I promise these are DE-LISH! There are three main factors to this banana bread that make them well rounded muffins meaning super moist, sweet and tasty in all the right amounts!
Exhibit A: Ripe Bananas. I can’t stress this factor enough. The riper your bananas are, the sweeter they are meaning you will get more natural sweetness in your bread, and less added sugar! Plus the riper they are, the easier they are to mash!
Exhibit B: Apple Butter. This is the greatest discoverey you will ever make when it comes to baked goods. And I am not talking about apple sauce. Apple butter offers a sweeter flavor and gives moisture to the bread that I have never experienced before. Apple butter will be your new best friend in all bread recipes to come! DO NOT replace it with apple sauce though.
Exhibit C: Greek yogurt. This should not be too surprising, given I am obsessed with this ingredient in almost every recipe ever. When making baked goods with a healthy twist, greek yogurt is my go-to. I like to use vanilla Chobani to not only give moisture, but flavor as well. The greek yogurt combined with the ripe bananas and apple butter gives you no reason to add in butter or oil; making indulging totally acceptable!
This is the first time I didn’t feel the need to add in refined sugar. All this recipe needs is 2-3 Tbsp of maple syrup or honey. Crazy right? The apple butter provides a great amount of sweetness, as do the ripe bananas, so the amount of added liquid sweetner is minimal. Hello bikini season. There is also almond butter added to the batter to help bind, give flavor and offer you some healthy fats. What I love most about these muffins are the add in options are endless. Try mixing in some blueberries, pecans, chocolate chips, nutella…Whatever your favorites are!
I personally enjoy drizzling some melted peanut butter on top or slathering apple butter inbetween the muffins. This may not be a vegetable recipe but these muffins are nutritionally acceptable to have in place of vegetables…but don’t quote me on that.
Apple Butter Banana Bread Muffins
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Sea salt to taste
- 2 large, overripe bananas
- 1/3 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (Chobani)
- 1/4 cup apple butter
- 4 Tbsp almond butter
- 4 Tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 egg
Optional Add ins
- Blueberries
- Chocolate Chips
- Pecans, Almonds, nuts of choice
- Nutella, Peanut butter, any nut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees farenheit. Grease 12 muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and mix.
- In a seperate bowl mash your bananas with a fork until it reaches an apple sauce consistency. Whisk in greek yogurt, apple butter, almond butter, maple syrup and egg. Pour your dry ingredients into banana mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until JUST combined. Be careful not to overmix or you could get dry bread. Fold in whatever add ins you would like! I personally love blueberries and pecans with this recipe and chocolate chips!
- Distribute your batter into 12 muffin tins, filling up almost to the top. Sprinkle with some more oats if desired. Bake for 5 minutes at this temperature then lower the temperautre to 350 and bake for 15-20 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Drizzle melted peanut butter on top for a yummy treat!
Notes
Makes 12 muffins.
Muffins stay fresh in an air tight container at room temperature for a few days. Then keep in the fridge for up to a week.