Healthified Banana Streusel Muffins

Muffins. They're what's for breakfast.

Last weekend I needed to come up with a dish to bring to Sunday brunch, and since we'd be driving over an hour to get there, a baked good that I could make ahead of time and that would travel easily seemed like the best bet.

I love muffins, but my beloved Joy of Cooking calls for insane amounts of butter, oil and sugar to make these breakfast goodies. You all know I'm not one to shy away from indulgences, but it just doesn't seem necessary to waste all those calories on one little breakfast pastry. Ice cream, yes. Norwegian Eggs Benedict, yes. Muffins? No.

Especially not when you can swap out oil and butter for mashed banana, and whole milk for almond milk.

I made a double batch of these so I could take a basket to brunch and freeze the rest for home. My weekday breakfasts usually consist of a bowl of Kashi or a yogurt with some kind of fruit, so a healthified muffin that I can guiltlessly grab from the freezer on a weekday, microwave it and smear it with PB and bananas and eat it in the car on the way to daycare...just seems like such a treat.

Healthy Banana Streusel Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil (may substitute applesauce)
2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 medium bananas, mashed

Topping
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/8 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, combine egg, oil, almond milk and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, then add bananas. Stir gently until just combined - do not overbeat.

Scoop batter into greased or paper lined muffin tins, about 2/3 full. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the topping; spoon topping on top of each muffin.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until just done in the center.