EA's Granola Banana Crunch Muffins

Yields 12 regular size muffins.

A few tips on making tasty muffins: Sift your dry ingredients together; Don’t be tempted to over mix – if you do, your muffins won’t be tender; Check muffins 5 minutes before the recipe states they will be done – every oven is different!

Ingredients:

• 1 1⁄2 C all-purpose flour 180g
• 1⁄2 C sugar 100g
• 1t baking powder
• 1⁄4 t salt
• 1⁄4 t cinnamon
• 1⁄4 c butter, melted
• 1⁄4 c applesauce 70 g (in the fall, pumpkin butter is a tasty replacement!)
• 1 extra large egg (2 fl ounces)
• 100 ml milk (3 1⁄3 ounces)
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 C mashed banana about
• 1⁄2 C small diced banana
• 1⁄4 C pepitas, slightly minced 35g
• 1 1⁄4 C EA’s crunchy granola, divided
• 3 T sunflower kernels, roasted 30 g

1. Preheat oven to 350. Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add melted butter and applesauce - mix just until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, milk, vanilla, and bananas. Stir into dry ingredients just until mixed. Fold in pepitas and 1⁄2 cup granola.
3. Using a 1-ounce scoop, fill 12 regular-sized lined muffin C (spray paper liners). Top each muffin with a heaping teaspoon of granola.
4. Bake 20 minutes, turning halfway through, or until tops are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let set five minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Serve warm or store cooled muffins in an airtight container.

What is a pepita? Pepita is Mexican Spanish for pumpkin seed. Pepitas are readily available in most grocery stores and are a good source of protein, iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc.