My 70 Calorie Healthy Banana Protein Muffin Recipe

My 15-month-old son Charlie is a picky eater. It's hard getting him to accept new foods or get enough balanced nutrition in a day. He's also the world's biggest snacker. I've been trying to find creative ways to get him the nutrition he needs.

He loves any kind of bread and muffins. He's a carb lover...takes after his mama. Lately I've been buying Ezekiel bread which has so much more nutrition than regular bread. I also started making healthy banana nut muffins that he LOVES...and he has no idea they're good for him!

I'm all about knowing what's in my food and cooking with whole grains. My favorite hobby right now is finding ways to modify my favorite comfort foods so they've got more nutrition for a more balanced diet.

Ingredients

• 1 large banana
• 1 small fresh zucchini
• 3/4 cup of egg whites
• 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt (I use one 5 oz individual packaged vanilla cup)
• 2 scoops of protein powder (Vanilla is my favorite, but peanut butter is good too)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• (Flax seed optional)

You'll need two bowls...one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients. I have a Kitchen Aid mixer that I use. I start by putting my banana into the bowl and mixing it on low speed. I add the egg whites next and blend it until the egg whites are foaming. I add in the Greek yogurt. Next, I grate one small zucchini and add it to the mixture.

In my other bowl I mix together baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, whole wheat flour and protein powder.

I slowly add the bowl of dry mixture to my wet ingredients. Once that's all mixed up I turn my mixer off and add in 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts that I fold into the batter. Sometimes I sprinkle a few extra walnuts on the tops of the muffins before they go into the oven.

Add the batter to your greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. This recipe will make approximately 12-14 muffins. I DO NOT use muffin papers because they will stick to the sides due to their lack of fat content. Be liberal when greasing your tin.

My son loves these, they're full of protein and dripping with health. They're a great breakfast or quick snack after the gym. You'll love these, I promise!

The cool thing is there's only about 70 calories per muffin!