Judy's Hearty Healthy Breakfast Muffins

I'm horrible at eating breakfast. I think part of it is because I am not a morning person, and I want the absolute minimum amount of time between getting out of bed and being where I need to be (because that means I get to sleep longer!). I usually get out of bed about 30 minutes before I need to leave the house, which leaves me just enough time to dress, brush my teeth and grab something for lunch before I rush out the door. The other part is I feel awful if I eat right after waking up. I know that breakfast has been coined the "most important meal of the day", but I also think that listening to one's body is important too. 

I think I might be better at eating breakfast if there was something delicious to spark my appetite. As I was pondering this point I began craving a muffin I used to have from a local coffee shop in my hometown of Canmore. These muffins were huge, healthy and packed full of flavour. It would usually take me at least two days to finish one, and I always felt full afterwards. And thus, my latest idea of inventing a muffin based on a 10-year-old memory was formed. I've spent a lot of time modifying recipes to make them healthier, but I've never come up with my own recipe from scratch before, but I figure there is always a new opportunity waiting. 

This recipe also gave me a great opportunity to use up some bananas I had frozen, some blackberries that were nearly at the end of their useful life, cranberries I have frozen which were leftover from thanksgiving and an apple that fell out of the fruit basket one too many times. I think plenty of other fruits would go wonderfully in this recipe, and baking is a great way to use up fruit that doesn't really seem to appealing to eat on its own. This recipe is also devoid of any refined sugar as well as oils or butters! Since its full of fruit (and a veggie too!) that helps to keep it moist without the added fats!

2 mashed bananas (from frozen works best, they squish better)

1/2 an avocado, peeled and mashed

2 eggs

1/2 cup apple sauce (sugar free)

2 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp honey or agave nectar

4 tbsp apple juice (or other fruit juice)

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cup multigrain flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 c wheat bran

1/4 cup almonds, diced

2 tbsp flax seeds

1 cup cranberries (frozen or fresh)

1 apple, cored and diced fine (or grated)

1 cup blackberries (or raspberries) cut in half

1. Mash bananas and avocado together in a large bowl. Mix in eggs, beating thoroughly. Add in apple sauce, vanilla, honey and apple juice. Mix well. 

2. To wet ingredients, add baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well to make sure everything is well incorporated. 

3. Add flour, oats and bran, almonds, flax seeds, cranberries and apple to wet mixture, stirring well until all ingredients are well mixed.

4. Add blackberries and gently stir once or twice. They are very soft berries and will get squished if you mix too much. 

5. Bake at 350 for 21-25 minutes or until tops start to brown.