Whole Grain Muffins

I have had a lot of people asking for recipes on my blog. I am a baker at heart, and recently went looking for a healthy muffin recipe. I found one that was relatively healthy, but tweaked it a little to make it even healthier. I haven't perfected it yet (going to try adding nuts next time!) so keep an eye out... I will post the recipe again once I have it "perfected". Enjoy!

Note: My son Cade LOVES to help in the kitchen. One day I asked if he wanted to help make my favorite salad, and as he was helping me, he exclaimed, "Momma's Sayad!" So any recipes I post that I made my own, I will refer to myself as "Momma".  :)

Momma's Whole Grain Banana-Strawberry Muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes      Cook Time: 20 minutes
Recipe Yield: 12 large muffins 

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened all-natural applesauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon raw honey (or agave)
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 3 tablespoon flax seed
• 1 cup frozen sliced (quartered) strawberries

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 12 large muffin cups, or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, oil, brown sugar, vanilla, honey and bananas. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, oats and flax seed; Stir into the banana mixture until moistened. Stir in the strawberries until evenly distributed. Spoon batter into muffin cups until completely filled.
3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed lightly. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the muffin tins. 
4. Momma Kelly's tip for removing from pan: Have a towel laid out on the counter. Using an oven mit, hold pan on it's side and bang on the counter 2-3 times. If there are still some muffins in the pan, turn pan on the other side 2-3 more times. That should do it!
   
   Kelly's healthy tip: My goal is to eliminate all the brown sugar from this recipe (I already reduced it quite a bit). These muffins are full of fiber, so if you are not currently consuming your daily amount of fiber, you're going to "feel it". This is a great breakfast muffin... every once in a while (not 3 at a time!).  :)
   
   Original Recipe:
   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mimis-Giant-Whole-Wheat-Banana-Strawberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx