Healthier Vegan Banana Muffins

Last week we had several almost too-ripe bananas that quickly needed to be used, which only means one thing around here: baking! Around this time, Lauren and I had decided we needed to start eating better, so I didn't want to bake anything with too much sugar or oil. Lauren has made countless delicious banana breads and dozens of muffins in the past, but this time I really just wanted something simple. I didn't want anything too sweet since your basic muffins can easily be dressed up with a dollop of almond butter. I'd pick almond butter over anything else any day!

After scouring Pinterest for awhile and not being able to find anything that met my picky criteria, I decided to just roll with it and create my own recipe. As an added "fun" bonus, I even calculated the caloric count per muffin. Only 127 calories per muffin, not too bad!

Ingredients:
(Makes 12 muffins)
- 3 ripe bananas
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup soy milk (I used Silk Light Vanilla)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pan and set aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, mash all of the bananas.

3. Add the sugar, soy milk, vanilla extract, and oil to the bananas. Mix thoroughly.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix just until everything is combined. Don't over-mix though.

6. Distribute the batter evenly amongst the muffin pan.

7. Place the muffin pan in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

8. Let the muffins cool in the pan, then remove and enjoy...perhaps with a spoonful of almond butter!