Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins with Coconut Oil {recipe}

Sunday marked the first week of the triodion, which means Great Lent is right around the corner.  I've been scouring my cookbooks for our favorite lenten dishes and adding them to my new handy dandy meal planning binder (details coming soon!).

On our most recent trip to a local farm for produce, the boys did some strawberry picking and I wanted to bake something with all of the deliciously fresh strawberries we brought home.  I had recently run across a recipe for these strawberry banana muffins on Love, Joleen Photography and they sounded simply delicious.  So, I whipped up a batch.  My favorite part of this recipe is that it calls for coconut oil.  I've been trying to cook and bake more often with coconut oil because it seems I'm hearing more and more about the benefits of it.  Plus, it's great for non-oil days!

Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins

(recipe yields approx. 18 muffins)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (can also use all-purpose flour or half and half)
• 2 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 2 large and very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 tbs. light brown sugar
• ½ cup coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup organic unsweetened applesauce
• ¾ cup diced strawberries, stems removed
• cinnamon & sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, sift and mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and the salt.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, brown sugar, coconut oil, and the applesauce.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and fold into the dry ingredients until everything is just combined. Fold in the strawberries. Do not over mix!

5. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Lightly spray them with a bit of cooking spray. Scoop the batter into each mold until each is about ¾ of the way full. Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top of each muffin if desired.

6. Bake for about 13-15 minutes until lightly browned on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 I made these last week for our drive to Orlando and they were the perfect snack.  The muffins were not crumbly at all and the kids loved them!