Good (for you) Morning Muffins

I've had a particular affinity for delicious, nutritious breakfasts recently. I love sweet breakfast but can't stand the sugar crash that comes with a large morning pastry. So I decided to bake a muffin I could feel good about "indulging in" at breakfast this week. I plan on eating them alongside some Greek yogurt or spread with cashew or almond butter to keep me full until lunchtime. 

The Nutrition Rundown: These dense, whole-grain muffins get most of their sweetness from fruit instead of processed sugar, and get their fat from heart-healthy nuts and flax instead of saturated-fat-filled-butter. 

Good (for you) Morning Muffins

Makes 15 muffins

Ingredients

1 ½ cups + 1-2 tsp whole wheat flour , divided

1 cup oats

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tbs wheat bran

2 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 egg

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

½ cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins (you can use cooking spray for this. If you’re using liners, place them in the tin before spraying.)
2. In large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, wheat bran, baking soda and salt.
3.  Combine banana, yogurt and egg in a separate bowl.  Make well in center of dry ingredients and add wet ingredients to dry. Mix well.
4.  Coat dried fruit and nuts in 1-2 tsp flour. Add to mixture and stir to combine.
5. Evenly distribute batter among muffin cups. Bake ~18-20 minutes. Remove and cool on wire rack.