Banana muffins - 2 points on Weight Watchers

I think I am definitely baking more since starting Weight Watchers! I was holding off before because I was gaining weight and the baked goods were so unhealthy. Now that I'm on the "reasonably healthy baked goods that fit in to my food plan" train, there seems to be no stopping me!

Plus, if I want baked goods now, I have to make them myself it seems like. 

If you have checked out my other Weight Watchers friendly baked goods recipes (pumpkin muffin recipe, blueberry lemon cake recipe), you will notice that I don't use artificial sugars, instead they are only lightly sweetened and rely on fruit and a little brown sugar to get the sweet taste. These banana muffins follow the same plan.

You can use over-ripe bananas from the freezer in this recipe. I used one from the freezer and one from my counter. If you are using frozen ones, thaw them out first. You can microwave them a little it you don't have time to wait for them to thaw (15-20 seconds).

I have also used almond extract in these muffins to give them a nutty flavor without using high-point nuts in the recipe. You can use vanilla extract if you prefer but they won't have the nutty taste.

Ingredients:
2 medium, very ripe bananas
1 cup self-rising flour
1 egg
1/3 cup unpacked brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

You will also need:
Cupcake liners, I suggest silicone liners when cooking without oil.
Cupcake pan 
Hand mixer, I use my kitchen aid hand mixer.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cupcake pan with liners. In a large mixing bowl, put all ingredients in the bowl and beat with the hand mixer until well mixed. Take care to ensure the bananas are mashed up and mixed in well.  If you have a good hand mixer, you don't need to mash the bananas in advance.

Fill each liner 3/4 full, diving the batter among the 12 liners.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

The recipe makes 12 banana muffins, that are 2 points each on Weight Watchers Freestyle.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission, thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in May 2018 using the WW freestyle program.

Apple muffins - 2 points on weight watchers

These apple muffins make a great snack when you craving the carbs but trying to behave. They are not very sweet, which is why I'm calling them "muffins" but they could easily be a cupcake if you wanted to toss some frosting on them. They have a moist bread-y texture and are great fresh from the oven or if you microwave them for about 10 seconds.

They are only 2 points each for a full-sized muffin on Weight Watchers freestyle!

This recipe grew out of the two-ingredient dough (1 part self-rising flour and 1 part fat free Greek yogurt) that is all over Weight Watchers circles. I was using that to make bagels one Sunday and thought, "what else can I do with this?" A few test batches later and these apple muffins were born.

After a little tweaking, my official taste tester (also known as my husband) pronounced them delicious.

If you leave out the sugar, or use a point-free sugar substitute you can actually get the recipe down to 1 point each, however, I prefer to use real sugar when possible. I made a sugar-free batch and honestly, they're not bad but I'll take the extra point for the sugar.

I am using brown sugar because it's fewer points than white! I seriously sat with the recipe builder and looked at how much sugar I could use before the points went up.

Yum! Brown sugar.

They stick to the paper cupcake liners a little bit at the bottom, I would recommend using silicone liners if possible.

Ingredients
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 eggs
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 small/medium apple, cored and diced into small pieces

Ready to mix!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly blended. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners (ideally silicone ones) and place 1/4 cup of batter in each liner. Bake in preheated oven for 17-20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins. Each muffin is 2 points on Weight Watchers freestyle. Muffins can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

If you like these, try my 2 point pumpkin muffins, they also don't have any artificial sugar.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission, thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in April 2018 using the WW freestyle program.