Strawberry Banana Poppy Seed Muffins

 
This past Wednesday evening, my mom and I lounged on two of the comfy chairs in the family room. With the TV turned off and our pups quietly chewing on bones, we finally had a chance to catch up on “girl talk” while my guy drove down from work and Dad hiked around the Sierras on his week-long backpacking trip.  

As we recounted stories about the past week—Mom from her scientific job, me from the blogging world—the backyard sprinklers cut out in the middle of their cycle, and all of the indoor lights shut off, plunging us into total darkness.
 

 
Now with the big kitchen remodel going on at my parents’, and with the previous owners leaving a few live wires lying around in the attic, we immediately began to worry that those were the cause and, as a result, the house might catch on fire! But I opened the front door and peered down the street, and I noticed that our entire half of the town looked as black as midnight. Not a single house light or street lamp was lit!

Of course, being from the 21^st century, we tapped on the flashlight apps on our iPhones to search for the regular ones somewhere in the laundry room cupboards. We eventually located two tiny camping ones, flicked them on, and waited for my guy to return.
 

 
We finally found out from PG&E that someone had crashed their car into a pole, which sent a massive number of houses into a power outage. Although we’re still wondering about the details, our electricity was restored during the night as we slept, so when I woke up the following morning, I popped a batch of these Strawberry Banana Poppy Seed Muffins into the oven as a sweet breakfast treat to ease the anxiety from the night before.
 

 
Now as a kind, I only ate lemon poppy seed muffins. No blueberry, no banana nut, nothing else. (Although I’d always agree to double chocolate chip, if Mom relented!) My brother and I were so picky that we even peeled off all of the slivered almonds on top of the lemon poppy seed muffins, carefully setting them into a napkin to hand over to mom later.

But up until a year or two ago, I didn’t even think to add poppy seeds to anything besides a lemon muffin! Eventually, I came across an orange poppy seed bundt cake recipe, and with that tasty success, I realized just how sheltered my poppy seed baking had been.
 

 
These healthy goodies come from my favorite banana muffin recipe. They’re made with entirely wholesome, clean-eating ingredients—nothing refined at all! I usually use whole wheat flour, although gluten-free works too, and you have the option of coconut oil or butter, depending on your preferences.
 

 
With only 1 tablespoon of butter, most of the moisture in these muffins comes from mashed banana and Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is my favorite ingredient in healthier baking! It adds all of the tenderness of butter for a fraction of the fat and calories. You’ll need a total of ¾ cup between the mashed banana and Greek yogurt, so if your banana is a little smaller and doesn’t quite reach the amount listed in the recipe, just add enough Greek yogurt to reach that ¾-cup mark. The recipe is very forgiving!

Because I used a super spotty, almost black banana, I only added 2 tablespoons of honey to the batter. It produced lightly sweetened muffins and helped bring out the natural fruity flavors. However, if your banana is more yellow than brown, feel free to add a little extra honey too.
 

 
With their cute little speckles and bright juicy berries, these Strawberry Banana Poppy Seed Muffins disappeared almost as quickly as I could pull them out of the oven! And it’s no wonder… With their soft tender texture, they basically tasted like cupcakes for breakfast!

Maybe the power should go out more often…
 

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