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.