the very best banana bread muffins

 

This recipe came from Pam of For the Love of Cooking, who got it originally from Shelley from AllRecipes. I basically followed Pam's recipe, but I was generous with my spice measurements and lazy in my preparation (and I made muffins instead of loaves). Still, they turned out AMAZING!! Seriously, my favorite banana bread recipe so far! Buttery and moist without being too dense or greasy... fantastic rising... perfection. I will definitely be making these again...and soon!

RECIPE: The Very Best Banana Bread Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter, softened

3/4 c (packed) brown sugar

2 eggs

4 overripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease your muffin tin(s). In a large bowl {or Kitchenaid mixer!} beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, bananas, and vanilla until creamy. Then add the dry ingredients and mix (don't over mix). Pour/spoon the batter into your muffin tin(s). Bake for 25ish minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

** Links to original recipe(s):

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2011/02/banana-banana-bread.html

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/20144/banana-banana-bread

bananas foster

I first had Bananas Foster at a Relief Society activity. The recipe was my friend Belinda's. I swear I wrote the recipe down somewhere, but when I searched for it this morning, it was nowhere to be found. I searched online, but none of the recipes sounded right. So I improvised. And it. Was. Delish.

If you've never tried Bananas Foster on waffles, you're in for a treat! Seriously, who knew waffles could be so rich and amazing? Give it a try. You'll be glad you did.

RECIPE: Bananas Foster

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter, cubed

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

3 bananas, sliced

vanilla extract

rum extract

cinnamon

nutmeg

Directions:

In a frying pan over med-high heat, melt butter. Add brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Bring mixture to a bubble. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. Continue to bubble for 2ish minutes. Add sliced bananas, stirring to coat. Add a tiny splash of vanilla, followed by 4ish drops of rum extract. Stir to combine. Continue to bubble and stir for a minute then remove from heat.

Serve warm over waffles, ice cream, or whatever suites your fancy. Top with whipped cream or Cool Whip if desired, adding nuts for crunch and/or sprinkling with more cinnamon for aesthetics. Eat up and enjoy!

chocolate banana muffins

This recipe originally comes from a food blog I frequent, For the Love of Cooking. The concept of adding cocoa powder to banana muffins was super appealing to me, so I decided to give it a try. I changed a few things {adding a few ingredients... skipping a few steps...etc.}, but the recipe is mostly hers. It was a success! We all loved them, and James {let's be honest... Derek} didn't even know that they were good for him. :)

RECIPE: Chocolate Banana Muffins

Yield: 2 dozen muffins

Ingredients:

1 egg

2-3 ripe bananas

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1/3 c. canola oil

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 c. cocoa

1/4 c. flax seed meal

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix first set of ingredients, whisking well. Then add dry ingredients, minus the chocolate chips {you could and probably should pre-mix these dry ingredients separately, but I never do... who needs another dirty bowl??} and mix/whisk well. Fold in the chocolate chips. Then spray muffin tins with non-stick spray and spoon the batter into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350F for 20-ish minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack and then gobble 'em up!

banana nut muffins {mine-ish}

These banana nut muffins are my own rendition of my mother-in-law's recipe... which originally came from her mother-in-law... which may or may not have been originally hers! :) I know. That was fun.

Anyway, they're really great. They're uber-moist, almost gooey {though if cooked as muffins and not a loaf, you won't get icky actual goo}, not at all healthy, and super yum.

I took my mother-in-law's recipe, which makes enough for an army- perhaps literally, and reduced it by 5 or so. Then I tweaked a few ingredients, rounded up or down as I thought was best, added some flax seed to make it a bit healthier and voila-- this recipe was born! I hope you like it. Sorry 'bout the hips. ;)

RECIPE: Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients:

6 1/2 Tbs. butter (soft/melted a bit)

1 1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 Tbs. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. mashed bananas {I used like 3 large ones... it's flexible.}

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 c. chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, whatev)

1/4 c. flax seed meal

Directions:

Whisk together butter, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla and bananas. In a separate bowl {nice concept; I never do}, combine dry ingredients. Gently add in dry ingredients, a little at a time. Pour into greased muffin tins {only fill the cups about 1/2 full... it's pretty heavy batter and will just goop over the edges otherwise}. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

banana nut muffins

Having just moved into a new house, I really needed to bake something {make a floury mess, fill the house with a sweet smell, eat something wonderful} to mark my territory a bit. These muffins were just the thing I needed. Somehow family and food combine to make a house feel like a home like none other.

Tip: I always thought you could only make muffins with old, brown bananas. Turns out fresh ones work just as well; they're just harder to mash {though honestly how "hard" can mashing bananas be?}. Who knew??

Anyway, I got this recipe from my Pretty Pink Bible {okay, so it's really called the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book... but it's the pink, breast cancer version of the classic red plaid... and it's fabulous}. It's on page 126, if any of you have the same, and it's actually the Muffins recipe with the Banana Muffins variation. I altered it a little {ie. dumped all ingredients together instead of separating dry and wet}, but it's pretty much theirs.
The muffins are yummy. Enjoy!



RECIPE: Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. cooking oil {vegetable}
3/4 c. mashed banana {2 bananas, I think}
1/2 c. chopped nuts {did 1/4 c. pecans}

Directions:Preheat oven to 400F. Grease {spray, whatever} a regular-sized muffin tin... all 12 cups. Combine all ingredients in a medium-large bowl. Stir until just moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup evenly. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. A wooden toothpick inserted in centers should come out clean at this point. Let cool a bit, then remove from muffin cups and serve warm.