Banana Muffins

What a whirlwind things have been this winter.  I have been so busy with learning tax laws and how to do payroll for our growing trucking business that my time in the kitchen has been limited. Oh, and Truckin' Man was thinking we needed to cut back on the cookies a little bit. He was thinking that until I talked about getting some baking going, and then he was all excited for it. So, I was excited to spend some time baking instead of making another soup and salad dish!

Muffins. I love 'em. If you want a healthy banana muffin recipe, please go check out my Banana Nut Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel.  If you are looking for a scrumptious bit of banana heaven, and aren't worried about a calorie count, please keep reading. I have been making this muffin ever since I found Brown Eyed Baker, and fell in love with her recipes. Each and every bite of the muffin is packed with amazing flavor, and is perfectly moist, with that nice crust on top. They do freeze well, but you do loose that crust on top once you unthaw them. 

To tell you how much I LOVE these muffins... I don't make them to use up my ripe banana's, I buy banana's and let them ripen so that I can make muffins!

Banana Muffins (Source: Brown Eyed Baker via Giada De Laurentiis)

3 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. baking powder
2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 T. vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed

Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a bowl until blended. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until well mixed. Stir in the banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Do NOT over mix!

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool.

Enjoy :) 

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Banana Nut Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel

It's been a crazy couple weeks here. We had our first snow, it was pretty, then I wrecked my car. Not so pretty then. No damage to me... Yeay! The car is still waiting for the body shop and the insurance company to determine it's future. So, I switched over to my winter driver (which I should have been driving anyway), the brakes went out on that after work one night, and I got to carry groceries home. Again, no damage to me, and none to my jeep, but really?  My nerves are getting pretty rattled, and I can't get anything done when I can't get anywhere!

One of my days stuck home, I was going to make banana muffins with my VERY ready banana's. Enough of making the banana's wait another day already. I head for my killer muffin recipe and get ready to rock out some muffins. Nope, they call for a cup of oil, and I could at most get a third cup out of the bottle. Nothing is easy this week! I remembered a recipe I had bookmarked a long time ago, and pull that up. I didn't remember them being such a healthy muffin, but what the heck, at least I had all the ingredients for this recipe. O.M.G. They were one of the best muffins I have ever made! I don't think they surpassed my "unhealthy" banana muffins, but they really were super good. The recipe makes a dozen, and for the two of us, that lasts a couple days, but even that very last muffin was still moist and tasty.

Give 'em a shot, they can turn a bad week all around!

Banana Nut Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel (Source: MyRecipes)

Muffins:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2/3 c. packed light brown sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

1 cup mashed ripe banana

3/4 c. milk

3 T. canola oil

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/4 c. chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)

Streusel:

6 T. regular oats

5 T. all-purpose flour

2 T. light brown sugar

2 T. butter, softened

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°  Combine 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine banana, milk, oil, vanilla and egg in a bowl; stir well. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened; fold in walnuts (optional). Place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups.

To prepare streusel, combine oats, 5 T. flour, 2T sugar, butter and 1/4 t. cinnamon. Blend with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle streusel over muffin batter. Bake at 375° for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Store in air tight container.

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Mango Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips

At the office, I have the special treat during the summer months of working with Heather, she is a very dear friend. Working in a place dominated by men, it's always nice to have more female companionship!  Heather has left the office now, and gone back to college.  But, we had lots of fun going over recipes while we had time! It was so much fun sharing my love of baking and inspiring Heather to try new recipes.

One day when we were going over some of my pinterest albums (honest, we really do get lots of work done), the recipe for White Chocolate Chip Mango Banana Bread just jumped out at her, so I made that for her last day at work. It did not disappoint! We both loved it! This past weekend, I did change it up a little bit, and tried them as muffins. Complete hit. Moist. Delicious. Packed with flavor.

Mango Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips (adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction)

2 c. white whole wheat flour (I used one cup whole wheat, and 1 cup all-purpose)

3/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

3/4 c. sugar

4 T. unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 c. mashed very ripe banana

1/3 c. Greek Yogurt (I used plain, but if you could find Mango... use that!)

1 t. vanilla extract

2/3 c. white chocolate chips

1 c. chopped mango

2 T. shredded sweetened coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour(s), baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, beat sugar and butter with mixer on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add mashed banana, yogurt, and vanilla. Continue beating until blended.

Slowly stir in the flour mixture by hand, until just combined. Do not overmix (this part is important). Fold in white chocolate chips. Gently fold in chopped mangoes. 

Spoon batter into muffin tins, to about 2/3 full.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove and sprinkle with shredded coconut.  Bake for 5-10 minutes longer or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  

Cool muffins in the pan on a wire rack.  Remove from pan when cooled.

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Chocolate Raspberry Banana Bread

Summer is finally here! The berries are producing, the garden is growing, I am so happy! The many hours of daylight are so nice! I am all to aware that we really need to enjoy this weather while summer is here. The summers fly by all to fast, in the northern states.

Black Raspberries have been my favorite berry, for as long as I can remember.  I think partially because I never pick enough to make anything with them. Typically, I pick just a few to get that taste, and then wait for the next season. This year I am lucky enough to have enough to bake with, and make my first attempt at a jam. It really is exciting for me! To my friend that took me berry picking on her dad's land to score the berries... Thank You!

I thought of one of the recipes that has been on my must try list.... Dark Chocolate Raspberry Banana Bread, from Sally's Baking Addiction. After seeing the picture, I had been craving it. I have been making the same banana bread recipe for way to many years. It's a good recipe, but I have been needing to try something new! I had the banana's ripening, and berries picked. I was ready to rock! Sally used Red Raspberries in hers, so I made a slight change there. She also halved her berries, I wasn't that patient so threw mine in whole. I am so glad I tried this recipe, you will be too! It has to be the best banana bread I have ever made! Moist, and packed full of flavor. Believe me , your house will smell amazing. The combination of banana's, chocolate and raspberries... It couldn't be better!

Chocolate Raspberry Banana Bread  (Source Sally's Baking Addiction)

2 c. all purpose flour

3/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

3/4 c. sugar

4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 c. mashed very ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 c. greek yogurt

1 t. vanilla extract

3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. raspberries, tossed in 1 T all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with mixer on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, and vanilla. Continue beating until blended.

Slowly add the flour mixture, until just combined.  Do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips and then gently stir in the raspberries.. 

The batter will be very thick, so spoon it into the prepared loaf pan rather than pouring it. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.