Banana Crumb Muffins

//Long hiatus- NYC vacay, family roadtrip, and new job! I am back now//

My slow transition into healthy baking is happening or has been happening. Who wants all the extra sugar when it tastes just as good halved?! Why not substitute wholesome flour or natural oil and fats or less refined and processed sugar for the ones that are not so completely good for you? (I believe everything is ok in moderations! Everyone needs a little sugar in their life.)

Up to date, I've incorporated chia seeds into some of my bakes, tried recipes that use bananas as a source of sweetness and moistness, and the most recent experiments- Carrot Cake Cupcakes and Banana Crumb Muffins are with applesauce which can be used to replace part/most of the oil in a recipe but still retained the moist and fluffy texture! These are definitely baby steps I am taking to create healthier sweets for my loved ones and not even close to recipes that follow a restricted diet.

Some of the stuff on my agenda to play with next:
almond milk, coconut milk/cream, coconut sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, greek yogurt, dates

Banana Crumb Muffins
recipe adapted from allrecipes.com
makes 12 regular size muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted (**subbed with equal amount of applesauce!)

Crumb topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar (used 1/4 cup loosely packed)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line pan with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

3. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. 

4. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. 

5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

6. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. 

7. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. 

8. Mix in chopped walnuts.

9. Sprinkle (~1tsp) topping over muffins. (Also sprinkled turbinado sugar on top for crunch)

10. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

The muffins tasted great. Initial taste was a bit salty but after cooling, sweetness was just right. Hearty and great for breakfast on the go! Some additions I will play with next time: nuts, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon, and/or 1/4 tsp nutmeg.

One major complaint and set back for this bake is after cooling and refrigerating the muffins stick to the liners! I am suspecting that the muffins lack enough oil to keep the liners nonstick. To overcome this next time or for any applesauce bakes that are low in oil, I will make sure to lightly grease the liners before bake.

Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Texture: 4.5 stars out of 5
Kept muffins in fridge and they stayed moist and fluffy for days! Minus 0.5 stars for the not so crunchy crumb topping possibly due to drastically lowering the brown sugar content on my part.