healthy banana nut muffins that are ACTUALLY good

I konw I know, how could any kind of healthy muffins actually taste GOOD?  If you were anyone who has fallen victim to my attempt to make all kinds of healthy muffins, you'd say "it's not possible....especially if Meredith is making them."  I'm not kidding- I've devoted the last year to try and find healthy and yummy muffin recipes because you can make them ahead of time, freeze them, and eat them whenever you need breakfast on the go!  Needless to say, I've been defeated by this process many, many times, but FINALLY- thanks to my dear friend Kristi Kurzen for letting me borrow her Cooking Light cookbook, I have found the muffin my heart loves.  I mean ok, there's still sugar and a bit of butter, but if you want your healthy muffins to actually taste GOOD and be enjoyable, you need both of those ingredients, let's just face it- I've had to.  I had family coming in for our assignment night and I needed to make breakfast and I needed it to be good and healthy, so I took a risk in trying something new, but it paid off....it might have helped that I made cinnamon-honey butter to go with them, but who cares! So, onto DELICIOUS, moist, healthy muffins :)

disclaimer: I failed to take pics AGAIN- but I do have a picture of my breakfast table with all of the food on it (thanks to Sara for the poppies)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar (you could use part sugar part honey or agave nectar, or all sugar in the raw as opposed to refined sugar)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened (Smart Balance has a blend you can bake with)
• 2 large eggs at room temp (you can soak them in warm water for 10 minutes to speed this process up)
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (with brown spots and soft- none of this firm stuff); about 3 nanas
• 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (or you could use plain and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla)
• cooking spray

Directions

• preheat oven to 350
• lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife.  
• Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk
• place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute)
• add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  add banana, yogurt, and vanilla (if using); beat until blended.
• add flour mixture; beat at low speed until just moist
• spray your muffin tins
• using an ice cream scooper, fill your muffin tins (then add another little spoon full so you have decent sized muffins)
• bake for about 25 minutes

Cinnamon Honey Butter

• 1/2 stick butter, softened (I keep mine in my pantry- yes, it's ok)
• a good couple swirls of honey
• a few dashes of cinnamon

mix all together with a fork and try on a piece of toast until you get the flavor you want!

serve with the muffins!  DELISH!