Skinny Strawberry Banana Muffins

The inspiration for these muffins was that it was time for breakfast and I was hungry.  I had some over-ripe bananas on my kitchen counter and a bag of frozen strawberries in the freezer just waiting to be used.  So, I searched a little bit online and found some recipes for Strawberry Banana Muffins.  I used Joy of Baking's recipe, but modified it a bit to make it a little healthier.  My version uses less butter, some applesauce, adds in whole-wheat flour, and uses a partial sugar substitute.  And they still taste awesome.
Serve these pretty muffins for a quick grab 'n go breakfast, an anytime-snack, as dessert, or for a party.

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup (1/2 Stick) Light Butter, Softened
1/4 Cup Applesauce
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Agave Nectar (or substitute brown/white sugar if you don't have this)
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 Cup Ripe Bananas, Mashed (about 3 Bananas)
1 lb. Frozen or Fresh Strawberries, Cut into Bite-Size Pieces

3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cups Whole-Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Line a muffin pan with paper liners (or you can spray the muffin cups directly with non-stick cooking spray.
3.  In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Fold in the strawberries (coating them in the flour helps prevent sinking while baking).
4.  With your Kitchenaid, or other mixer, combine the butter, applesauce, brown sugar, and agave until well-combined.  Mix in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla and the bananas.  Thoroughly mix.

5.  Slowly mix the strawberry-flour mixture in with the wet mixture.  Don't overmix.
6.  Pour batter into muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack and Enjoy!

Makes 12 Regular-Sized Muffins or 6 Jumbo-Muffins or 24 Mini-Muffins.


Freezer-Friendly: After baking and cooling, place muffins in a dated/labeled freezer bag.  Remove as much air as possible and freeze for up to 3 months.  To defrost, pop back into muffin pan and bake at 350 until warm, or defrost slightly in microwave.

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