Sugar Spot Banana Muffins

Lately, weekend mornings where it is just me and Chris at home has found me in the kitchen baking.  It's something I haven't done for the past few years because chasing after an active toddler has kept me too busy, but now that the munchkin can play independently and happens to enjoy helping out in the kitchen, I'm having a good time trying out some new recipes.  This time, Matt was going for an early morning hike to enjoy our wonderful summer weather before it succumbs to the chilly fall days.

The hubby and I are on a pretty strict diet these days - weighing our food and counting calories.  As you can imagine, there isn't much room for sugary snacks or decadent desserts, which is tough for a girl with a serious sweet tooth!  So, I've found a new hobby and it is baking treats that are low in calories but still taste yummy. 

This time, my challenge was to make a muffin that was under 200 calories.  We had some overripe bananas (seems to be a pretty common occurrence), so I opted to make banana muffins.  That's kind of been my baking M.O. these days - find a main ingredient we've already got in the house and look for a recipe where it is featured.  I did one even better this time because all of the ingredients that went into these muffins were items we already had in the house.  Score!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoon apple sauce
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup flaxseed meal
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray or baking cups

Adapted from this recipe.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

I then combined the brown sugar, vegetable oil, apple sauce, egg and egg white in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.

I had my assistant baker with me so I put him to work mashing up two medium bananas.  He's becoming quite the pro after helping with the banana bread. 

Once the bananas were good and pulverized, I added them along with the milk to the mixing bowl and used the mixer to make sure it was well incorporated.

Next, I added the flour (lightly spooned and leveled with a knife in the measuring cup), flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into another mixing bowl and stirred it up with a fork.  If you don't like the texture of of the flaxseed meal, you can run it through a food chopper or processor so your muffin has a smoother texture.

Then, the flour mixture was added to the sugar mixture and mixed with a fork until the flour mixture was absorbed by the liquids - you don't need the mixer for this part as the batter just needs to be moist and not well beaten.

Now you're ready to spoon your batter into your muffin tin that is either coated with cooking spray or lined with baking cups.  The batter should be divided evenly into 12 muffins. 

Put your muffin tins into a 350 degree oven and bake for about 22 minutes or until the muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center.  After removing the tins from the oven, put them on a wire rack for 5 minutes to cool and then remove the muffins and place them directly on the wire rack to finish cooling.

This is a pretty quick and easy recipe that results in a light and tasty treat that you don't have to feel guilty about.  These are great if you need a breakfast on the go or an afternoon snack to tide you over until dinner.  I recommend putting it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds for an even more enjoyable muffin eating experience. 

If you give this recipe a try, I'd love to hear how you liked it!  Comments are always welcome!

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle