Sweet Strawberry Muffins

Baking is a good escape for me and last night my kitchen was evidence I needed to escape. Being in limbo waiting for lab results from my doctor has allowed every possible scenario to run through my mind more than once. I needed to take my mind off of everything and baking always calms my nerves.

My brother flies in from California late Thursday so I want to have extra muffins so he can eat some too. It also happened to be a good excuse for some baking. There are so many delicious summer fruits in season I had time deciding which one to include in the muffins. After much debate I finally settled on strawberries and I must say they add the perfect amount of sweetness to these moist and delicious muffins!

Sweet Strawberry Muffins

• 1 cup whole wheat or gluten free flour
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds (can omit this if desired)
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas, about two large bananas
• 1/4 heaping cup organic or regular honey
• 1/4 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 cup cut organic fresh strawberries 

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, chia seeds, baking powder and baking soda. 

Once all the dry ingredients are combined add in mashed banana, vanilla extract, honey, applesauce and the egg.

Do not over mix the batter. After the batter is formed fold strawberries into the mixture. Do not over mix batter. 

Place batter in the fridge for thirty minutes, this allows the batter to thicken. You don't have to do this but it does make your muffins denser.

Pour batter into lined muffin tins. You can make 12 large muffins or 18 regular sized muffins

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check doneness, if it comes up with batter bake for an additional 3 minutes and check again.

Allow muffins to completely cool before storing in an airtight container or in a Ziploc bag for freezing.

Nutrition per serving (1 serving= 1 muffin):
Calories: 88 (for 12 muffins), 59 (for 18 muffins)
Carbs: 19, 13
Fat: 1, 1
Protein: 3, 2
Sodium: 224, 149
Sugar: 8, 6