There’s this divine, mouth-watering cupcake place not too far from my office that first turned me onto “hummingbird” baked goods. Their scrumptious hummingbird cupcakes are filled with fresh banana, pineapple chunks, and vanilla – three of my favorite flavors. For the sake of my skinny jeans, I only allow myself to pass through this cupcake place very rarely and let myself have a hummingbird cupcake as a treat. So when I saw a recipe for hummingbird muffins in one of my running magazines, I jumped at the opportunity of making a more figure-friendly version of one of my favorite indulgences (in fact, I went to the grocery store at 7:00 a.m. the next morning to get a couple ingredients I didn’t have just so I could make them that day).
These hummingbird muffins absolutely fill the craving for a sweet, delicious treat without any of the guilt. I swap sugar for Splenda in this recipe, and I top them with oats and nuts instead of frosting like their cupcake counterparts. Healthier honey and fruits ratchet the sweetness factor up many notches, so it’s an easy swap for a tempting donut or danish. Plus, baking these in cupcake tins makes this the perfect breakfast to go. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee and get your morning off to a delicious, healthy start!
Delicious, sweet, and much better for you than any donut!
What you’ll need:
For the muffins:
- 1 cup Splenda
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup crushed, drained pineapple
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
For the crumble:
- 1/2 cup steel-cut oats (not instant)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon margarine, melted
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- Pinch salt
- 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
What you’ll need to do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and honey in a large bowl, microwave at 50% power for about 45 seconds and then stir.
This is what your honey-sugar mixture should look like after it’s heated and combined.
Whisk in eggs one at a time until smooth. Add oil and applesauce and whisk. Add fruits and vanilla and whisk again. The mixture should be mostly smooth with only small chunks of banana and pineapple. Set this mixture aside.
In another mixing bowl, combing flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pecans.
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture a little at a time, stirring constantly.
In a separate bowl, combine all the crumble ingredients and set aside.
This is what your crumble should look like.
Prep two cupcake trays with nonstick spray or liners (I used liners). Lesson learned when I made these – they’re really sticky so if you decide to go the spray route, make sure you spray the pan really well! Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.
I like cooking these in cupcake tins so that I can have 1, or even 2 if I’m extra hungry, without feeling guilty.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Enjoy!
**Need to do something else with those steel-cut oats? Try out my Perfect Oatmeal or my Overnight Oatmeal with Bananas and Coconut Milk.
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