My first morning on our Tahoe family vacation last week, my eyelids groggily peeled open as my alarm sang out its annoying tune right next to my ear shortly after the sun peeked out over the trees. I padded downstairs to find my parents huddled around their laptop on the smaller sofa, whispering to each other to avoid waking me. I curled up sleepily on the larger couch and eventually asked, “What hike are we going to do today?”
As a little kid, I grew up visiting campgrounds in both Yosemite and Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay once a summer. We’d string up the poles to pitch our tent, swim in the nearby icy cold lakes and streams, and toast marshmallows over a crackling fire for s’mores every night.
But the highlights during the day were always the wide assortment of dusty mountain trails we climbed through and hiked. Although the rest of our family stopped camping each summer sometime while I was in high school, my dad continued with his buddies, and because they now backpack twice a year, he knows most of the day-trip trails and always comes 200% prepared.
While I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, he and Mom decided on the Five Lakes Trail. It left out of Alpine Meadows, fairly close to the ski lifts, so after a brief breakfast and short drive over, we slathered on sunscreen, slid on sunglasses, and started the 1000-foot climb up the hot dusty rocks.
We spotted the first lake barely an hour after locking the car, despite multiple shady water breaks. With the mosquitoes out in full force, we spritzed on plenty of bug spray before continuing, pushing our way through barely marked “trails” in the underbrush to pass by the second lake.
We stopped for a few minutes at the third, awed by the breathtaking view, then snapped a few pictures at the fourth before finally resting at the fifth lake. Dad pulled out bags of peanuts and honey mustard pretzels to snack on while Mom recalled last summer, when she and Dad hiked the same trail but got hopelessly lost somewhere after the first lake (which is why Dad bought a new GPS this year!).
Eventually, we rallied and started back down the steep mountainside, reaching the bottom less than three hours after we began, with our shoes and the backs of our legs covered in a thick layer of dirt. We drove home to shower, and Mom offered to pop over to the grocery store for deli meat to throw together our own healthy sandwiches at the cabin.
She returned with multiple bags, and we unpacked whole grain bread, pickles, pepperoncinis, spinach, and Dijon mustard, along with the sliced ham and turkey. Out of the last bag, Mom pulled out a huge carton of fresh strawberries, mentioning, “They looked too good!” So we all grabbed six or eight of the oversized berries to eat alongside our sandwiches.
As the freshest, sweetest, and juiciest I’ve tasted yet this summer, I snuck just as many to snack on while I drove home a few hours later!
When I eased off the freeway, I stopped by the grocery store before heading back to my house. I needed to pick up my own strawberries—I was still hungry for more after how perfect those tasted! After powering through over half of the carton, I decided to bake something with the rest…
…so I created these Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins! Practically bursting with the sweet taste of summer, these skinny breakfast treats are moist and flavorful—nothing like the normal bland cardboard taste you’d expect from whole wheat baked goods. Plus they come together in mere minutes, so you can easily have a healthy breakfast on the table by the time everyone else in the house rolls out of bed!
Like many of my other muffin recipes, this one is really straightforward and made with only wholesome, clean-eating ingredients. That’s right: they contain NO butter, refined flour or refined sugar!
With only a tablespoon of coconut oil, most of the tenderness comes from mashed banana and Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is my favorite ingredient in healthier baking; it adds all of the moisture of oil while keeping the fat and calories low. Plus it sneaks in a little extra protein boost too!
Try to choose the ripest, spottiest banana you can find. The darker the skin, the more natural sweetness in the fruit. I only added 2 tablespoons of honey to the muffin batter. Between the mashed banana and juicy diced strawberries, they were already plenty sweet!
As soon as the timer buzzed, I nearly burned my fingertips breaking into one hot out of the oven. Moist and tender, with the bright taste of summer, it took lots of willpower not to devour three more!
If you and your loved ones manage to leave a few on the cooling racks, pop them in a zip-topped bag and store them in the fridge. They taste just as satisfying chilled, but you can also stick them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them back up. Or try what my mom always does: slice one in half, lay a small pat of butter on each side, and put the halves in the toaster oven until the butter melts and seeps into the cracks.
Pure sweet and buttery bliss!
So take advantage of summer’s sweet berries and bake these Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins! They’re the perfect lazy weekend breakfast or healthy mid-morning office snack. Yes, skip those bakery muffins in the break room—you won’t miss the fat or calories in these healthier ones!
If you liked this recipe, then be sure to follow my Healthy Baking board on Pinterest!
| Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins | | Print |
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) whole wheat flour (measured like this)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (130g) mashed banana (about 1 medium)
- 2 tbsp (30mL) honey
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup (105g) strawberries, diced (about 10-11)
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and lightly coat 8 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana, honey, and yogurt, mixing thoroughly until no large lumps of yogurt remain. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the strawberries.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Baked at 325°F for 22-24 minutes, or until barely firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Pure maple syrup or agave may be substituted for the honey.
{clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
These look so delicious! I know what those super sweet strawberries are like; every once in a while, my local grocery store will stock up with big, red, juicy strawberries that taste incredible. Can’t wait to try this, your description makes them sound awesome. Thanks for the recipe!!! (:
Thanks Kyla! I wish I had your grocery store. My local one has been falling behind on the strawberry-stocking-up job! We normally get a mix of under-ripe and so ripe they’re almost oozing ones in the same carton, so it was a really pleasant surprise to find those perfect ones on vacation. Definitely not taking advantage of those! 😉
Oh what a hike! Sounds lovely especially when you end it with fresh strawberries! These muffins look fantastic. Amazing pics!
Thanks Julie! I hadn’t been on a real hike in over a year. I forgot how fun and rejuvenating they are, and when you add all those mountains, it definitely counts as good exercise! 😉
Sounds like you made the most of your time in Tahoe! These muffins sound great. And now I’m craving strawberries. We have a stand that is down the street from our house and they have the BEST strawberries in town! I think I’ll have to get some now 🙂
A strawberry stand that’s just down the street from you?? That sounds incredible! I must admit I’m slightly jealous. 😉
I’m totally hitting you up the next time we go to Tahoe. We always end up at the “known” places because we have no clue and don’t want to risk something unknown with the kid. 🙂 Love these muffins too!
Thank you Dorothy! I’m not sure if she’d enjoy anything on the dinner menu (slightly fancier seafood and steak-ish dishes), but I’m almost positive you’d all love the dessert! And I’ll take Mel’s share, same offer as always. 😉
Amy these look delicious! And reading about your camping reminded me we never talked about where you went in Lake Tahoe! You will have to fill me in on where you like to go! Still slowly nibbling on the cookies you brought us! You are am amazing baker!
Aww thank you Ashley! I’m really happy you enjoyed the cookies. You deserved them after being an amazing roomie!! 🙂 And I suppose that we’ll just have to get together again so I can tell you about Tahoe. Oh darn! 😉
Mmmm, these look great! I wish I had some for breakfast in the morning! 🙂
Thanks Jocelyn! 🙂
Very nice recipe…the muffins came out really tasty.
Impressed by the list of healthy ingredients used.
Thank you.
I’m so happy you enjoyed them! 🙂
Hi Amy,
These muffins look delish! Only thing is, call me crazy, I don’t like strawberries. Do you think sub them with blueberries would be fine, still 3/4 cup??
Of course! Just substitute the same amount of blueberries, and you’ll be fine. I hope you enjoy the muffins Bec! 🙂
Will do! 🙂
I love how healthy and delicious these are
Thanks!
I just made these, and can’t complain for 120 calories and 6g of sugar (what I calculated with my ingredients)! I did find them to be very dense and moist though and the dough was almost cookie dough-like. Is this what you experience with your muffins? I also had problems with keeping my coconut oil melted and ended up with little chunks throughout the batter. It didn’t seem to harm the muffins once baked, but I didn’t know if you had any remedies for that? My guess is that it was the cold yogurt that caused it. Anyways, thanks for your recipes! I’ve loved all of them so far!
I’m glad you’re enjoying my recipes Jessica! But I’m sorry the muffins didn’t quite turn out for you; that must have been disappointing. If the dough had a texture similar to cookie dough, then there was either too much flour or not enough mashed banana. Make sure the flour is measured correctly using either a kitchen scale or the spoon-and-level method (I describe that here). If the coconut oil didn’t stay melted, your egg was probably too cold. You can also mix in the banana and honey fully before adding the yogurt. By dispersing the coconut oil among all of those room temperature ingredients, it shouldn’t harden. I hope that helps! 🙂
Do these NEED to be refrigerated? I made them today and didn’t read that note on the recipe initially…so it’s been several hours and now I am wondering if I should toss them! 🙁
I’m so sorry for the confusion Laura! You shouldn’t have to toss them. They’re fine at room temperature for at least 24 hours, if not 48. Refrigerating them will prevent them from getting moldy quite so fast; that’s all! 🙂
can plain organic whole milk yogurt be used instead of Greek?
Yes Erin, any yogurt will work! I hope you enjoy the muffins!
I just made these and found that I had the same problems as one of your other readers. The dough was like cookie dough. Very dense and heavy. My coconut oil also hardened, so I guess my egg wasn’t room temperature enough! But after baking the texture turned out fine! The strawberries were juicy enough to make it work 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins Kristen! To bring a cold egg up to room temperature really quickly, I microwave 1 cup of water for 20-25 seconds, then set the cold egg into it straight from the fridge while I measure the dry ingredients. By the time the dry ingredients are measured and mixed, the egg should be ready to use!
Can these muffins be frozen after cooking? If so, how long can they be frozen for? Thanks!
Yes! These muffins can definitely be frozen. I’d recommend eating them within 3 months to avoid freezer burn, but they should still be fine to consume if left longer. I hope you enjoy the muffins Nica!
These look amazing, but is it really necessary to put 6 LARGE pics of the very same muffins, making it take forever to scroll down the page? All it succeeds in doing, for me, is to cause me to skip the entire blog & go straight to the recipe.
I hope you enjoy the muffins Toni!
All good things that come to those who are patient
You’re so sweet to say that Anne — thank you!! 🙂
They are great!!!!!!! one question:
How many calories are in these?
I’m really glad you like them Ashley! The Nutrition Info is already included beneath the recipe. 🙂
Hi Amy, can we substitute the bananas for something else? I’m allergic to them….
I’d recommend this muffin recipe of mine instead Elisabeth! It has strawberries (and chocolate chips, although you can leave them out if you prefer) but no bananas. I hope you enjoy them!
It sadly did not come out well. I think less strawberries and nutmeg next time 🙁
I’m sorry the muffins didn’t turn out for you Ana; that must have been disappointing. What happened? I’d like to work together to solve the issue so that your next batch turns out better!
I made these today and they were delicious! Yes, like other posters, my batter was extremely thick, however It was my first time using whole wheat flour so I was assuming that’s why. It didn’t harm how they turned out…. they were delicious. I threw in some leftover raspberries as well and they tasted really good.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins! 🙂
Sadly my muffins were way too dense and not nearly sweet enough. Maybe because I didn’t melt butter or egg not room temp enough? Not sure.
That sounds frustrating Lindsey. The butter does need to be melted for this recipe to turn out properly, so both that and the cold egg would factor into the dense texture that you described. Also, how fresh is your baking powder? If it’s older, then it won’t work correctly and the muffins won’t rise or have the proper tender texture. 🙂
These muffins look amazing. I’m in the UK so don’t really understand your measurements with cups! Do you know what they are in grams or ounces?
Thank you
I’ve updated the recipe to include metric measurements! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the muffins Nicola!
Would these freeze well?
Yes, they freeze wonderfully! I’m excited to hear what you think of the muffins Nova! 🙂
These are amazing! I’m so happy to have found a healthy blog with recipes that actually turn out….I’m a very experienced baker and am usually disappointed in the quality of recipes on the Internet. My toddler loved these (she’s eaten 5 since yesterday) so you know they’re good 😉 excited to make more of your stuff, Amy.
Oh my goodness, that means SO much to me Paige — both your glowing comment and the fact that your daughter has already eaten 5 of these muffins! Thank you so much! 🙂 Your daughter is so lucky to have you to bake her healthy homemade treats. I can’t wait to hear what recipe you two decide to try next!
I’ve been trying to eat healthier and have been craving a really good moist muffin. I am going to make these this morning! I’ll let you know how they come out. PS: it’ll be my first time ever baking anything from scratch. 😬😬
Oh my goodness Jennifer, I’m absolutely honored that you selected my recipe as your first one to bake anything from scratch!! That means SO much to me! ♥ I can’t wait to hear what you thought of these muffins!
They came out so good! So light and not overwhelmingly sweet! Perfect for my healthly morning start. I’m trying to be lil healthier! I found you on IG and tagged you in the picture of them! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked the muffins Jennifer!! Thanks for tagging me on IG too! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what other recipes you try!
Hi Amy ! Great recipe for banana muffins you have shared. Do you have any recipe for egg less muffins or any substitute for egg ? TIA 🙂
Thanks Kalpana! While I have very few egg-free recipes, I absolutely love Ener-G as an egg replacer, and it works in almost all of my recipes. Even better, it’s inexpensive, shelf-stable, and keeps for ages! For each egg white, use 1½ teaspoons of Ener-G + 2 tablespoons of warm water, and for each egg yolk, add an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or oil. My brother is allergic to eggs, so I actually use it quite a bit! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these muffins if you try them!
Hi Amy,
I made the Muffins for a friend’s baby shower yesterday and everybody loved them😊 I had to share the recipe quite a lot as so many of my friends wanted to try them too:)
Katja x
I’m so glad everyone loved the muffins Katja! I’m truly touched that you made my recipe for such a special occasion — and that you shared my recipe too. Thank you! 🙂 I really hope your friend enjoys her new bundle of joy when it arrives!
I think I’ll be using this delicious recipe for my Healthy Living class. Never thought of Greek yogurt, genius!!
Thanks Katie! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you and your classmates think of the muffins!
Hi! I was wondering if it would be possible to sub the yogurt for almond milk but a lesser amount maybe? My son is allergic to dairy and I wanted to make these for him, but the taste of dairy free yogurt is awful haha so I was hoping there was another way to make these dairy free.. thank you! 😊
Oh no! If at all possible, I do recommend using dairy-free yogurt to ensure the muffins come out with a moist and tender texture, rather than dry or tough. What dairy-free yogurts have you tried with your son? My brother is lactose intolerant, so we’ve tried our fair share and do have a few favorites that I’d be happy to recommend, based on your son’s taste preferences! 🙂 Otherwise, you can sub additional banana for the Greek yogurt. That’s a better sub than almond milk to make sure the texture is as close to the original recipe as possible!
Hi again;) I already made those muffins a few weeks ago and loved them. Wanted to make them again yesterday evening but didn’t have any berries and the stores were already closed so I had to improvise and wanted to share: Instead of the strawberries I used grated apples, carrots, chopped almonds and some raisins. Simply delicious. I love that the recipe is also great for basic muffins and allows you to add in whatever you basically like that day😊
I always love seeing your comments Katja! 🙂 I love the sound of that combination! I need to remember that… Apples + carrots + raisins = now in my memory! 😉
can i freeze them after i bake them ?
Yes! These muffins freeze really well. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them Chantalle!
Hello, uh oh, just cooked these muffins and used the cup measurements. Realised when I read another post that USA measurements were used.I’m in Australia and our measurements are different. They didn’t turn out TOO bad as I’ve just eaten TWO. I will attempt to make them again using grams.Do you think I could use chick pea flour? Keep up the good work.
I’m glad the muffins still turned out okay, Anne! I hope your next batch turns out even better! 🙂 I don’t recommend using chickpea flour in this recipe. The muffins won’t rise properly. 😉