• Preheat the oven to 400F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners. or butter the sides of the muffin tin cavities to prevent the batter from sticking.

for the muffin batter

• In a medium bowl, combine whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and kosher salt. Stir with a spoon to fully incorporate.
• Wash, peel, core, and dice the apples (of your choice) into small cubes. Toss them into the dry ingredients bowl until each apple cube is coated in a thin layer of flour.
• In another large bowl, whisk to combine apple sauce, brown sugar, granulated sugar, yogurt and vanilla extract. Whisk until the ingredients are combined, the sugar is dissolved and the batter is smooth. Whisk in the eggs one-by-one until fully incorporated. Lastly, whisked in the mashed banana.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet in two batches, folding with a spatula or spoon until no streaks of flour can be seen.

for the streusel topping

• Melt the butter by slicing into small cubes, placing in a bowl and microwaving at 10 second increments until full melted.
• Add the melted butter into a bowl with whole wheat flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the finely chopped pecans (if desired). Using your hands, create clumps of dough by squeezing the ingredients in your fingertips and mixing with the melted butter. Small clumps of dough should form. The clumps should be pea to almond sized and just holding together.

assemble and bake

• Divide the muffin batter into the prepared muffin tin filling each liner 3/4 of the way full. (TIP: to ensure each muffin liner gets the same amount use a cookie scooper) Top each muffin batter with some of the streusel topping, pressing the topping into the muffin batter to prevent it from sliding off while baking.
• Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 400°F to allow a crust to form on the topping, then lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the muffin tin and enjoying!