Banana and Applesauce Muffin

Hello everyone! Here in our town summer break is officially upon us! School is finally over... I can't believe that my daughter's first (pre?) pre-school year has come and gone! Last August she started school as a very shy two-year old, but now she talks non-stop, chases her little friends around the playground, and can do so much more! It is absolutely amazing to see your children develop so much in such a short amount of time. 

My daughter and my husband at the entrance to the school on her first day.

Now look at her! (and ignore me...) This is on the last day of her school. They have a picnic day for the students and parents to come and play in the playground area during their normal school time. I made the muffins below as one of the treats for the picnic, and brought it along with pretzels sticks and cherry tomatoes. Simple, but it worked well for us :) It was a special mommy-daughter only day too as the babysitter watched our baby boy. 
A little note about these muffins: they were very moist due to the combination of applesauce and oil, and not too overly sweet. I also didn't feel horrible having multiple muffins at once since I used wheat flour (which practically makes it non-caloric, right?) Ha!
Anyways, enjoy your summer with one of these muffins!

Banana and Applesauce Muffin
~makes about 18 muffins


Muffin ingredients:
-1 1/2 cup quick oats
-1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp baking powder
-3/4 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp nutmeg
-1 cup applesauce
-1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 whole bananas)
-1/2 cup whole milk
-3 Tbsp canola oil
-1 egg
-1/2 cup brown sugar


Topping ingredients:
-1/2 cup quick oats
-2 Tbsp brown sugar
-1/4 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 tsp cloves
-2 Tbsp butter, melted
-1/3 cup chopped pecans


Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 18 muffin cups in a muffin pan.
In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large measuring cup, mix together applesauce, banana, milk, brown sugar, oil, and egg. 
For the topping, in a small bowl, melt the butter, and add the other ingredients for the toppings. Set aside.
Returning to the muffin batter, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix until combined.
Fill each muffin cup 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle topping over muffins (about 1 tsp over each muffin). Bake in preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.


Recipe adapted from Cooks.com