Oatmeal Strawberry Banana Muffins (146 Calories & LOW FAT... made with Agave)

What do you do when you have ugly overripe bananas staring you in the face?  Well, you can either toss them out, or bake with them.  Each week I go grocery shopping and buy a few of my favorite fruits, including bananas.  I start my week eating a couple of bananas while they are still yellow and then forget about them the rest of the week, hence why they become overripe.  Today I told myself I was somehow going to use up my overripe bananas.

This past week was exhausting with work, plus my blog, so I've been missing out on sleep.  I worked from home today which means my mind starts to wander when work isn't too crazy.  I pondered over what to make and blog about later.  I knew I wanted to make Banana Muffins this way I could use up my overripe bananas, but I also had strawberries on hand, so I figured how about Strawberry Banana Muffins.  And then I thought, well last week I made Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins (adapted from Joy the Baker) and they turned out pretty great, so how about I work on a similar recipe for Strawberry Banana Muffins.  This is where the oats come in... hmmm... Oatmeal Strawberry Banana Muffins!!!  I figured if I came this far trying to bake healthier, I wanted to go one step further and try baking with Agave, instead of sugar.  I've been meaning to bake with Agave for quite a while now. Agave is a natural sweetener and has a low glycemic index which makes it more suitable for people who are diabetic and watching their weight, therefore a healthier option.  Since Agave is sweeter than regular sugar, you need less of it.  I went ahead and lowered the Agave amount by ⅓ of the sugar amount.  Did I confuse you?  Don't worry, I did all the Math for you.  🙂  Recipe below!  Try it and tell me what you think, honestly!

NUTRITION: Strawberries are an excellent source of Vitamin C. They are also a great source of Antioxidants and Fiber.  Bananas are a very good source of Vitamin B6. They are also a good source of Vitamin C and Fiber. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and Oats add a good amount of Protein and Fiber to these muffins.

MODIFICATIONS I MADE:

• I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour instead of Whole Wheat Flour.
• I added a teaspoon of Vanilla Extract. 
• I omitted Applesauce and replaced it with Overripe Mashed Bananas.
• I omitted Brown Sugar and replaced it with Agave, so instead of ½ cup of Brown Sugar, I used 5.5 tablespoon of Agave which yields ¼ cup + 1.5 tbsp.  See the difference?
• Instead of Blueberries, I used Strawberries.
• Lastly, it has been said when baking with Agave to lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees F, I went ahead and baked my muffins at 350 degrees and 5 minutes longer. 

APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 12 muffins)

• Calories: 146 Cals
• Fat: 3.8 g
• Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
• Carbs: 40 g
• Protein: 3.3 g
• Fiber: 2.9 g

OATMEAL STRAWBERRY BANANA MUFFINS (LOW FAT) (inspired by Joy The Baker)
~ yields 12 muffins @ 350 degrees

INGREDIENTS:

• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour - 1 ¼ cups
• Quaker Oats (Quick-1 Minute) - 1 ¼ cups
• Baking Powder - 1 tsp
• Baking Soda - ½ tsp
• Salt - ¼ tsp
• Cinnamon - ½ tsp
• Overripe Mashed Bananas - ½ cup (or 1 ½ bananas)
• Buttermilk - ½ cup
• Agave - 5 ½ tbsp
• Canola Oil - 2 tbsp
• Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
• Egg - 1
• Strawberries - ¾ cup (chopped)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
3. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients... whole wheat pastry flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside.
4. In another bowl, combine the following ingredients... mashed bananas, buttermilk, canola oil, agave, vanilla extract, and egg.  
5. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold the mixture.  DO NOT OVERMIX.
6. Add the strawberries and fold.
7. Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, I just used an ice cream scoop. 
8. Place the muffins in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden on top.  Mine took 20 minutes to bake.  
9. Allow the muffins to cool... I waited 15 minutes and then had 1 with a cup of tea. 

OVERALL RATING:  3 / 5

These muffins were good and I would definitely make them again, but I missed the fat in this recipe.  I think strawberries taste amazing with butter, so perhaps next time I will re-work this recipe and add 2 tablespoon of butter, instead of oil.  I still enjoyed the way these tasted for a muffin that is supposed to be low fat, it went really well with a cup of tea.  Also, I would eat these up the same day, they weren't as moist the second day.  They sure look pretty!  🙂
Texture: The texture was a little sticky, I am not sure if this is because of the Agave, it could be.  I will try baking these again without Agave and see if it changes the texture of the muffin.
Moistness: These cupcakes were pretty okay when warm, however they were a bit dry after a few hours.  I'd probably add 2 tablespoon of Applesauce next time for extra moistness.

Thoughts?  Thoughts?  Thoughts?  Please leave your feedback if you bake these, I'd be really curious to see how this worked out for you.