Cinnamon banana muffins make a great breakfast or snack during the day. These are a great alternative to a classic banana bread or banana muffin!
Do you guys ever participate in spring cleaning? While I don’t set a dedicated time to organize my home and my life, there are times when it’s time to start throwing away the old stuff and de-cluttering.
Last fall, I got fed up with all the junk that was in our garage. We kept it really unorganized since we moved in. I don’t know why. Stuff just started piling up and I couldn’t take it anymore. For a type-A personality like myself, it was driving me nuts. So I finally hired a company to build some organizational systems into my garage. Life has been better since then.
Another area that is constantly a mess is my freezer. We have things from who-knows-when, and my husband is usually the one that finds them and throws them out. I was digging in there one day and found a lot of bananas. And rather than make some boring banana bread, I made some cinnamon banana muffins instead.
I’ve been avoiding using butter in muffin recipes to make mine a little bit healthier, but I used it this time so I could stick to the original recipe with the creaming of the butter and sugar. That process made these muffins light and fluffy. I did swap out the oil with applesauce and used white whole wheat flour to lighten up the calories a tad.
These were some pretty fantastic muffins. My family all enjoyed them, and my husband and I particularly enjoyed the fact that the freezer was a little bit more de-cluttered. I’m afraid to tackle some other rooms, like my closet… 😉
Cinnamon banana muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup overripe bananas, mashed (about 2-3 large)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour can substitute with white whole wheat if desired
- Coarse sugar for topping optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease or line a standard muffin pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs until well incorporated. Add the applesauce, baking soda, bananas, cinnamon, vanilla and salt and mix well.
- Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add in the flour. Mix until everything just comes together. Do not over mix.
- Transfer the batter into your prepared muffin pan, filling each well about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops with the coarse sugar and bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.