Whole Wheat Banana Applesauce Muffins

It may be a mouthful to say, but they are very easy to make!

It was a long and not always tasty (read: hockey pucks) journey to create a whole wheat muffin recipe that tastes this good!

Save yourself time and don't bother sifting or lugging out the stand mixer. You won't need to do either for this one!

Robert & I love to have these for breakfast - they take the guesswork out of getting the day started. Pop 'em in the microwave for 20 seconds and they are good to go!

Step One: Assemble Your Ingredients

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and gather the following:

A few notes on the ingredients:
- Applesauce: I keep the little applesauce containers in my fridge at all times. They are the perfect 1/2 cup portion and stay fresh a lot longer than a large open jar. Wholefoods sells unsweetened all natural applesauce in these containers.
- Yogurt: I prefer 2% plain greek yogurt in all things.
- Vanilla Extract: Make your own; it's inexpensive and easy! In a mason jar, add 3 vanilla beans sliced in half lengthwise. Top with vodka. Cap and give a good shake. Keep in a cool, dark place (a cupboard will do) and give a shake every day or so. In a few weeks once it's turned deep brown, you're extract is ready to go! The best part is that once it gets low, you can simply top with more vodka and shake! It's a neverending supply as long as you have vodka... and who doesn't? :)
- The nuts and spices are up to you. Add as little or as much as you'd like.

Let's bake!

Step two: Wet and Dry

In a large bowl, add your dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, add your wet ingredients, as pictured below.

Note that the sugar counts as a wet ingredients (this is almost always true in baking). I also added the spices into the wet ingredients. They go either way, really. Also note, I have not added the pecans yet.

Step Three: Wet into Dry

Add the wet intgredients into the dry bowl and stir until just mixed and consistency looks like this:

Scoop into your prelined muffin tins. You can fill 2/3 of the way up and make about 18 muffins, OR do what I did and make 12 mega muffins. Whole wheat flour does not rise as well as white flour, so you can fill your muffin tins to the top!

Top with chopped pecan pieces. Other nuts are acceptable, but I'm a good Georgia pecan girl. Bake for 20 - 35 minutes (depending on your oven and how big you made your muffins). Check on them after 15 minutes and rotate the pan.

Store these in a sealed container in the fridge and they will last for about a week. Or if you're like me, they'll last about 2 days.

Enjoy!