Strawberry Banana Muffins

Imagine if a strawberry-banana smoothie and a vanilla muffin had a baby. That's what these amazing muffins are like - they're sweet and tender from the banana, fresh and bright from the strawberries, and cake-like from the vanilla-laced, creamy batter. You can't stop at one - and that's OK, they're healthy too!

These muffins taste incredibly decadent, but they're truly not. Thanks to the mashed banana, the amount of butter you need in the batter is slashed IN HALF. Instead of 1/2 cup, you need just 1/4 cup of butter for the whole batch - that's 12 muffins! And, I promise you, you won't be able to tell the difference - the muffins are still buttery and rich-tasting (as a good muffin should be).

Want to try some variations? Please do! You can easily swap fresh or frozen blueberries for the strawberries. In fact, any variety of berry would work, including mixed berries. I used fresh berries in my batter, but frozen will work just fine. One tip - do NOT thaw frozen fruit before folding it into the batter (unless you want colorful, pinkish/blueish muffins.

Strawberry Banana Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 cup diced fresh strawberries (cut into 1/4-inch pieces)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix on medium speed until blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the mashed banana and vanilla.
Beat in half of the flour mixture. Beat in the milk. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just blended. Fold in the strawberries.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, filling each muffin cup about 2/3 full.
Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean or with little moist bits clinging to it.
Cool the muffins in the pan, on a wire rack, for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 muffins