Muffins but Not for Him

Remember when David made the shrimp for me?  Well, I thought about him when I did baking that weekend.  I made banana butterscotch muffins since I knew he didn't really like banana that much and would prefer chocolate over butterscotch...so I went in search of a recipe to fit the bill. 

I found this recipe from the Baldpate Inn.  Now, I have no clue what the Baldpate Inn is other than it gave me this recipe.  The muffins ended up really good and my co-workers loved them.  I think they ate them for the rest of the week!  Definitely a good muffin.

Banana Butterscotch Muffins from the Baldpate Inn
1 Cup Oatmeal, uncooked quick variety
1/2 cup white sugar
2 bananas
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Butterscotch chips
1 Egg
1/4 C milk
1/4 C Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Preheat over to 400.  Puree peeled bananas.  Add bananas with liquids to dry ingredients, stirring by hand just to blend.  To bake, fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes, until top springs back when lightly touched.  this makes 1 dozen muffins.
Butterscotch Banana Muffins from the Baldpate Inn

Facebook Banana Bread

Several years ago when I actually went home to visit my parents more often, I seemed to develop this tradition of making banana bread every time I went home.

 So, it's completely appropriate that my mom found a banana bread recipe that I should try.  Several Sundays ago, K helped me make the recipe.  It is a "healthy" recipe and turned out really good. 

We didn't have regular applesauce, only the strawberry squeeze pac, which K refuses to eat.  Score...now I've used them all!  And K got to squeeze it in.  The only problem was the clumps of flour that turned up as I cut into it!  Ha!  I decided to just stir the batter.  Actually, to let K stir! 

She LOVES to stir and, since I use the mixer most of the time, she doesn't get to stir much.  Oh well...you can eat flour, right?!  ;-) 

Facebook Banana Bread adapted from Facebook (unfortunately, I don't know where it came from originally!)
Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour (used all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (used two of those kids squeeze packs because it's what I had!)
3/4 cup honey (about 2/3 cup)
2 eggs, beaten
3 mashed overripe bananas

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce and honey. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Banana Bran Muffins

Most weeks, K goes through all the bananas I buy.  But sometimes she eats something else...like when we had watermelon.  She loved that and kept requesting it in the morning instead of banana.  So, I ended up with extra bananas.  Not that I'm complaining; I love making banana baked goods.  Another thing I love is bran muffins.  So, a few weeks ago, K and I made banana bran muffins.  These were so simple to make and turned out surprisingly moist and delicious!  I think David even liked them.  :-)

 Banana Bran Muffins adapated from Max and Kaylee who adapted from Fuss Free Cooking

1 cup bran cereal

1/2 cup milk

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup olive oil

1 egg

1 cup flour

2.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375º.  In large bowl, mix bran cereal and milk together.  Let sit for about 5 minutes, allowing the cereal to soak up the milk.  In a separate bowl, mash the bananas.  Add cereal-milk mixture and mix well.  Add oil and egg, stirring well to incorporate.  Next, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar.  Stir until just combined.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean.  Enjoy!

Cake...Banana Bread Balls

I'm always looking for new ways to make or use banana bread.  When we had our last baby shower, I decided to try this recipe out.  Instead of the typical cake balls, I made banana bread balls.  They ended up being really good!  And on top of the entire THING being good...the banana bread itself was good, too!  Maybe they'd be good for a post-Christmas breakfast treat...or a New Years Party dessert.  Try them out.

Banana Bread Balls from Vanilla Sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
3 tablespoons yogurt
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix together shortening and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time then banana and yogurt.  Mix well.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Pour into a square baking dish and bake until done (30 minutes or so) or in a loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.  Allow to cool.

When cool, crumble the cake into a bowl and stir in the cream cheese.  Place in refrigerator so that it can cool and firm up.  Roll into 1-2 inch balls.  Place them on a baking sheet and place in refrigerator to chill.  Melt and temper the chocolate.  When ready, dip the balls into the chocolate and place on a wax paper lined pan.  Let harden and enjoy!  Chill until eating.

Quick Breads

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles. 

I was really a bit excited about this.  Some of the recipes that we were provided with looked really good.  I planned to make several of them.  The third of the month, I decided I would try the cream cheese pumpkin loaf.  My loaf came out dense gummy.  WHY do I have such trouble recently with quick breads?!  I used to make them with no problems, so good.  I had to throw away two loaves of bread.  That one...a fail. 

For my birthday, I decided to make some banana bread to take to work...and apparently forgot to take a picture.  Oops! When I walked in with bread I was asked if I made it.  When I said yes, D gave me a look like "you shouldn't bake for other people on your birthday!"   Why?  I liked it.  ;-)  When I made this one, I just threw things together.  I forgot to put the egg in and didn't realize it until I was finished; it turned out fine.  The bread was gone by lunch time.  I call that one a success. 

The next one I tried was a ricotta cheese chocolate muffin (follow link for picture...again, forgot to take one! Bad blogger!)  I found the recipe a while back and thought D might like it.  I used cottage cheese and was trying to use baker's chocolate, but it re-solidified when I added it to the butter so had to add some cocoa.  I wasn't sure how they were but D said they were good heated...sometimes I wonder if he's just being nice!  ;-)

 The last one I tried was a bit different but I liked it.  This is a buttermilk quick bread which turns out to be a good bread for soup.  I've been telling D that I'm going to make sourdough bread, but that requires me to make a starter.  Unfortunately, I don't know if that will happen this month.  So, I thought I'd try something that might be a little close.  Well, it's not exactly sourdough bread, but it was good.  The texture is dense and almost....ALMOST...cornbread like but not grainy.  I do think that I overcooked it a tad.  I did my "I know what time I put it in the oven so I won't set a timer" thing.  Then I actually got distracted.....CLEANING!  All of a sudden I remembered the bread! 

The inside was still nice and soft and the edges were firm.  I enjoyed it as did D.  I'd make it again.  This was such a fun challenge. I really wish my pumpkin bread had worked.  Will probably try that recipe again sometime along with the lemon bread recipe.  REALLY wanted to try this one but didn't get to make bread this past weekend since I was out of town.  Thanks for a fun challenge, Lis!

Chocolate Chunk Ricotta Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup cottage cheese

 2 eggs 

1 1/3 cup milk

 1 T. vanilla extract
4 T. unsalted butter melted and cooled

 2 cups flour 

1 1/4 cup sugar

 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

 2 tsp. baking powder 

1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with cooking spray (love the one with flour in it). In a medium size mixing bowl whisk the ricotta cheese with eggs until well mixed. Add the butter.  Whisk in milk and vanilla and set aside. In a large mixing bowl sift all the dry ingredients together to get out any lumps. Stir together the dry ingredients so the cocoa powder is incorporated well.  Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined, do not over mix, then fold in chocolate chips.

  Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full because of the ricotta being heavier they will not rise as high as normal muffins would, so they need to be filled 3/4 full.  Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. When the muffins come out of oven let cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto cooling rack. Enjoy!
Makes: 9 large muffins or 16 regular size muffins.

Buttermilk Quick Bread from Cooking Light on My Recipes
9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups) 
2 tablespoons sugar
 1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk 
1/4 cup butter (I used oil) 
2  large egg whites (I used 1/4 cup packaged egg whites)

Preheat oven to 350°. Measure flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, and egg whites, stirring with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Pour batter into an 8 x 4–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.  Enjoy!

If you Have Time to Bake

So far, my month on nights is going well.  We've gotten to sleep at least a little bit most nights...so thankful for that.  This weekend is one of our short off weekends, go back to work on Sunday.  Tomorrow I'm going to see Les Miserables with a friend!  I've seen it before but am quite excited about seeing it again; unfortunately, that means that my only full day off this week is completely taken.  That doesn't leave much time for cooking or baking....

but if I was to do some cooking, this would be something that I would make again - Nutella Swirled (or peanut butter) Banana Bread.  This is a recipe from Emily at Sugar Plum.  The bread is SO moist.  Another plus...it actually BAKED completely in my oven!  Woo Hoo!  I loved the texture so much that when I went  home, I made a similar version with peanut butter instead of nutella.

  The Nutella is definitely more full of flavor and provides a more exciting visual effect as well.  See?

  Please try this...and more of Emily's recipes too.  She makes great ones!

Marbled Nutella Banana Bread from Sugar Plum

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe banana
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large eggs
1/2 cup Nutella

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together banana, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy and well combined.  I used a regular bowl and spoon but Emily suggested a mixer. Beat in egg until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients.  Place 1/2 of of the batter into a medium bowl; stir in Nutella until combined.

Alternate spoonfuls of batter into loaf pan until all of the batter is used up - I did mine in a checkerboard pattern. Swirl batter gently with a knife (not too much!). Bake 1 hour or until well risen, deep golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into bread comes out with moist crumbs attached.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Banana Bread

Wow!  Sorry I missed my last Eat. Live. Be. post.  I just couldn't post.  I left work late because I had to stay and put a chest tube in one of my patients and then compile some information for research I'm doing.  Then I had call Tuesday night...super busy!  There were FOUR deliveries requiring NICU attendance between 1230 and 4am.  Needless to say, on Wednesday, I crashed.  And now, it is Thursday!  A couple of weeks ago, I had some leftover bananas to use.  I saw this recipe for a while wheat, blueberry banana bread and decided to try it.  Oh, and did I mention that it uses olive oil? 

Little did I realize that this recipe was from Ari, formerly of Baking and Books!  Such fun to find an old favorite in a new place.  :-)  The bread was great.  Not overly sweet but just perfect.  Also a plus was that it COOKED through. I have issues with banana bread in my oven but this one worked.  The only advice I would give is to eat it quickly, share it, or freeze if you can't finish in a few days.  I think the addition of the blueberries makes it get sticky/friendly more quickly than usual.  Thanks for a great recipe, Ari!

Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Bread adapted from Ari at Sweet Happy Life
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
■1/2 cup olive oil, I used about 1/3 cup
■1/2 cup light brown sugar
■1/4 cup granulated white sugar
■1 cup whole wheat flour*
■1/2 cup all-purpose flour
■2 large eggs
■1 teaspoon baking soda
■1 teaspoon salt
■1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 1 large banana)
■1 cup yogurt, I used fat free
■1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
■1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen but fresh is better)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl combine the olive oil, sugars, eggs, bananas, yogurt and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until just combined, then fold in the blueberries.  (If you REALLY want to be good, mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl before mixing into the we ingredients.)

Pour the batter into your pan. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, mine took full time. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack to cool.  Enjoy!

The Tradition Resumes

For the longest time, it seems that whenever I went home I'd make banana muffins.  For some reason, the past few times I've gone, that hasn't happened.  Well, I made it a point to make some over Thanksgiving.  The recipe I used is from an old cookbook...I think Better Homes and Gardens Breads...but don't hold me to it!  The recipe is for Best Muffins and is just a basic muffin recipe.  However, the cookbook gives options of different types of muffins by modifying the batter.  I added bananas to make it banana muffins.  These turned out really good, though Mama didn't think it was banana enough.  I had only used two small bananas, so you could easily remedy that by adding an extra banana.  These baked up perfectly...now, if only I can get banana bread to do the same!

Banana Muffins
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 well beaten egg
3/4 milk
1/3 cooking oil
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2-3 bananas)
1/4 cups chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mash banana is a bowl.  Add in all wet ingredients.  Then stir in all dry ingredients.  Spray muffin tins and pour batter into molds.  Bake in muffin pans for 25 -30 minutes at 400 degrees.  Makes ~12 muffins.  Enjoy!

Makes 12 muffins

Banana What?!

I LOVE buying those big bags of bananas that are "ready to eat" (though really overly ripe if you ask me) because they are perfect for baking!  However, sometimes I want to try sometime other than banana bread.  The other day, I wanted something a little fall-like as well.  For some reason, banana cornbread popped into my head. 

So, I went in search of a recipe and found this one.  The picture on Ashley's blog looked SO good that I decided to try this one.  However, I had a bit of a problem...no maple syrup.  No biggie, I decided to use molasses.  So, where I used molasses, the original recipe used maple syrup.  It turned out to have a nice texture and just enough molasses flavor.  The banana wasn't overwhelming and you might not really know it was there if you weren't told.  However, put a little butter on this and it is some FANTASTIC cornbread!  Try it out!  Thanks, for a great recipe Ashley!

Molasses Banana Cornbread

1 cup stone ground cornmeal

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2  teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 medium bananas, mashed

Slightly less than 1/2 cup molasses

1 egg white

1/2 cup skim milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, mix together bananas, molasses, egg white and skim milk.  Stir the banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just blended. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes.

Recipe Box Fun #2

I usually try to make treats to bring for call but this month has just been so busy and tiring that I didn't do it many times.  However, one of the recipes that I got from my Granny's recipe box seemed like a fun one to try.  It intrigued me because I've tried to make banana blondies but just wasn't pleased. 

And I must admit, when I finished these, I wasn't sure either.  However, the nurses in the PICU stated differently!  They all thoroughly enjoyed them...and they helped us get through another busy night taking care of our kiddos.  I did make some slight changes to dress up the blondies.  I added coconut and macadamia nuts to the top, which I think really added to the flavor. Be aware, these are not your typical dense, rich blondies but do have a wonderful taste and a moist texture.  I enjoyed them and they have been approved by PICU nurses...so take a stab at them!

Banana Blondies
1/2 cup butter/margarine
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 t baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mashed banana (about 2)
3/4 cup coconut + 1/4 cup
1 1/4 cup flour
1 small bag macadamia nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Cream together margarine, sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Add baking powder and salt.  Mix well.  Add the banana and 3/4 cup coconut.  Blend in flour.  Pour into greased 13 X 9 pan.  In a small bowl mix the 1/4 cup coconut, 1 T melted butter and 1T sugar and nuts.  Spoon across the top of the batter.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Cool 15 minutes prior to cutting.  Enjoy!

It's a Toffee Job, but Somebody's Got to Do It!

I have officially started my second year of residency, which means I am an upper level.  I lead the team, have to see all of our patients, and help the interns make decisions about patients overnight (if they need help).  I definitely have to get used to is because some of my responsibilities have changed from those I had last year.  I have survived the first call, which all in all wasn't too bad, though I think we admitted more than any team over the 4 day stretch.  I made some cookies, as per usual, but didn't take a picture.  I'm trying to re-create a cookie (that I have never tasted, BTW) for one of my mom's friend.  A chocolate and pecan cookie that is "chewy" and has "air pockets" in it...they apparently used to make it at MSU in the 70's but don't anymore!  Anyway, I took the first version of this cookie, and though good, I don't think it was "the" cookie.  I'll keep trying.  Any suggestions on reaching these goals?!

Anyway, I made this snack cake for a call many months ago.  The inspiration was a toffee snack cake that Peabody made.  I LOVE toffee...and to me, adding banana in with it is just perfect.  I've done it before in a nice, light summer pie and the results are great; so why not try in a cake.  I had a banana left over and decided to add that to these bars.  The results were great.  A not too banana flavored cake that remained moist and had a little crunch from the toffee!  Yum!

Banana Toffee Cake
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (Peabody used 1/2 cup...use that if you like!)
1 ripe banana, mashed
  3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (I decreased this slightly, maybe even more than noted here, due to the sweetness from the banana)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup self rising flour
¼ cup yogurt
¼ cup buttermilk
1 ½ cups toffee pieces, divided
Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray a 8-x-8-inch pan with baking spray. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter, banana, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk and sour cream.
Turn mixer speed to low. Starting with the flour alternate flour and buttermilk mixture ending with flour. Fold in ½ cup toffee pieces.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Insert a knife or wooden skewer to test for doneness.
Remove from oven. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup toffee pieces on top.Store in an air tight container.  Enjoy!

Banana Bread that Works!

Sometimes, making banana bread is difficult. Even after cooking it for an hour, the center can be runny and uncooked. For a while I thought it was my oven, which it may have been. However, I recently came across a wonderful recipe on Anna's site...yes, she cooks things other than cookies! I made this a couple of weekends ago when I went home to see my parents and just made another loaf here with whole wheat flour. Both of them worked well. The whole wheat version wasn't quite as light in texture but wasn't overly "wheaty." Surprisingly, this is very similar in taste and texture to those very sugary and buttery version; however, it has less than 1 cup of sugar and only 1 tablespoon of oil. Wow! I HIGHLY recommend it and will probably use it as my go to recipe (along with my grandmother's) unless I find a good looking new one.

Low Fat Banana Bread (adapted from Epicurious)

1 3/4 cups flour (7.7 ounces) - all purpose OR while wheat (I was light handed when using the whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 ripe bananas — smashed or pureed in processor
1/3 cup buttermilk (or milk but buttermilk is better!)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9×5 inch metal loaf pan with flour-added cooking spray.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy and light (about 5 minutes). Mix in smashed bananas, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir just until blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake bread until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Turn bread out onto rack and cool.

Makes 1 loaf.

The Importance of Fat

I went home this weekend, and we all know what that means...banana bread of some sort! Well, this time, it didn't work as I wished. I pulled the muffins out of the oven and decided to check the inside of one. It just wasn't quite right, why? Oh my goodness! I realized that I had totally forgotten to put in any form of fat (or fat substitute)! I had hopes that they might still be good, but when I got up in the morning my mom told me that they had to "punt!" Oh, well! Over Christmas I DID have a very delicious new banana bread recipe, though. This is a gingerbread banana bread that I found at Baking Bites. It ended up with a VERY moist crumb...almost gummy but not quite. I honestly kind of like that texture! I highly recommend this recipe if you want a flavorful bread to go with tea...at least, I assume it would be good with tea! The addition of sugar on top of the batter makes for a lovely change in texture and appearance, my mom even noticed! And for those of you who want to redeem something healthy...it has whole wheat flour AND bananas in it! There you go...eat away! Banana Gingerbread
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup banana, mashed (about 2 large)
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, banana, molasses**, buttermilk and vegetable oil. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until just ombined. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Makes 1 loaf, 8-10 slices.

**Hint - to more easily get the molasses out of the measuring cup, spray the cup with cooking spray before measuring. It just slides right on out...slow as molasses, but out! :-)

Because Bananas are Healthy

So, Santa is quite full from all those cookies and is trying to lighten up...just a little bit! I mean, his sweet tooth never dies, but if you add fruit that makes it better for you, right? So, he's enjoying these maple banana muffins. They're quite moist and sweet enough for good ole Santa! I honestly can't remember EXACTLY what I did, but I know it was based on this recipe. I think it was something like this:

Maple Banana Bread
1/3 cup butter, melted (or oil)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 egg
2 bananas, mashed
3 tablespoons milk
2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray (or use muffin cups). In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and maple syrup. Beat in the egg and bananas. Add milk. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and stir into the banana mixture just until moistened. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into prepared muffin tin or muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes or until browned and cooked through. You can test using a piece of raw spaghetti or a very small knife if you don't have a cake tester.

Banana Bread a la Jenna

Several weeks ago, I pulled some bananas out of the freezer...I wanted banana bread! Why? Well, I saw a recipe on Jenna's site. This bread turned out great...and it's whole wheat to boot! What else do I expect from Jenna? She's finishing up her internship for culinary school...baking to be specific! This ended up cooking perfectly...something I've had trouble with in my apartment oven. So, pull out some bananas and whip up this healthy banana bread...Thanks, Jenna! Whole Wheat Banana Bread - adapted from Jenna

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2/3 cup yogurt, vanilla
2 very very ripe bananas
1/2 cup nuts, optional - I had no nuts!

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, mash the bananas and add the brown sugar, yogurt and egg. Mix well. In a larger bowl, SIFT the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold together—-do NOT overmix! Pour batter into prepared nonstick (or greased) loaf pan and bake for about 50-60 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the loaf pan then release and cool 10 more minutes before slicing.

Perfect Banana Muffins

From a surprise source...the side of the Kroger bran flakes cereal box! A few weeks ago I had a bunch of bananas ready for use in bread. As usual, I wanted a different recipe and saw the one on the side of the cereal box. Well, I didn't have honey but we can change things, right? These were SO good! Not as soft as a sugary, mix-made muffin but not overly tough. They were the perfect I'm-not-hungry-because-I-didn't-sleep-any-on-call-but-need-something-to-eat post-call breakfast! I would definitely make them again. Thanks, Kroger! I'll put the original recipe with my changes to the side. Honey and Spice Banana Muffins
1 cup bran flakes cereal
1/4 cup skim milk
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup honey (1/2 cup sugar)
1/4 cup melted margarine (1/4 cup oil)
2/3 cup mashed ripe banana (I used 2)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger (didn't use...my ginger was GROSS)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg Heat oven to 375 F. Soak cereal in milk for 5 minutes (this is how I actually like to EAT my cereal...soggy!). In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients then add cereal mixture. Beat (or stir well) until will mixed. Spoon into greased muffin pan, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, remove from pan. Optional, top with a nut! Enjoy!

A Hit and ARF

My team was on call last night, so I baked cookies. I took these but made a few changes like adding nuts, decreasing butter by 2 T (knowingly) and adding that 2nd egg (accidentally). They turned out just as good if not better than before. Believe it or not, with a few random residents thrown in there, my two residents polished the whole batch off! We had a LONG night and needed the caffeine. :-) So, today, I'm tired. I got the most sleep of anyone last night...about 2 hours compared to 30 minutes and none. I took a 2.5 hour nap today and will sleep good tonight going into my DAY OFF!!! I'm going in search of a banana-pumpkin bread or muffin recipe to make tomorrow. If you know of one, let me know. While I do that, I leave you with this berry muffin. It's from a new show on The Food Network. I really enjoyed the show and recipe...maybe I'll check her out again. I did make a few changes to this recipe. The muffins stayed fresh for several days without getting that old muffin stickiness to them. So, if you have some straggler blueberries or even some frozen, try this out. If Cate still had ARF Tuesdays, I'd send this recipe for sure!!
Sunny Morning Muffins adapted from Sunny Anderson
Ingredients

* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* Pinch ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 ripe bananas, mashed
* 2 large eggs
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries.

Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs but not wet, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature.

It's a Tradition

I got to go home for an entire week...well, Monday through Friday, and really could have stayed longer but decided to come back for a wedding. I took full advantage of my time off but won't be able to go home (I will see my parents but not at home) until Thanksgiving. When I got there on Monday I saw banana bread bananas waiting for me! Yes, back to the tradition of making some form of banana bread when I go home. I love it and try to find a different recipe each time. This time, Mama wanted muffins. She said that they tend to forget about bread but will eat the muffins. I think she likes them with her coffee mid-morning! :-) So, I went in search of a recipe and found this one at Allrecipes. It was easy to make and gave the perfect amount of batter for 12 muffins. I find that sometimes, there is too much batter for only 12 muffins and other times I struggle to get 12 good sized ones. This time...perfect! Mama and Daddy both had one hot out of the oven and they liked them. Daddy said they were perfect because you could taste the banana but it wasn't too sweet and the texture was soft without being rubbery (that's not his word but I think it's what he meant!). By the time I left, we had eaten all but one! Banana Crumb Muffins - adapted from AllRecipes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins. bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of muffin comes out clean.

I'm halfway done with my board exams! Only Ob-Gyn, Psychiatry, and Internal Medicine left. :-) For this week's ARF Tuesday at Sweetnick's, I submit a scone with banana and bran that I made many months ago. At first I thought this was a recipe from Dorie, but after an extensive search through her book (and all the other cookbooks I have) I realize that it came from Cooking Light! I didn't even remember finishing this recipe because of how strangely it started. I don't know what the issue was, but the instructions said to knead. Please, tell me someone...how do you knead a "muffin" batter? Something was wrong that day b/c my dough was not thick enough. So, I just added a bit more flour and didn't knead...I just placed the batter/dough onto the stone. Turned out okay but I'd like to try it again and see if the outcome is better! Visit Cate's site to see the other great entries. Banana Bran Scones adapted from Cooking Light Nov 2007 Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)

1/2 cup wheat bran

2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup ripe mashed banana (about 2)

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1/4 cup fat-free buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons fat-free buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife.

Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon) in a food processor; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine banana and brown sugar in a medium bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add flour mixture and 1/4 cup buttermilk alternately to banana mixture, stirring just until moist. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 1 1/2 minutes with floured hands. Pat dough into a 6-inch circle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut dough into 8 wedges, cutting into, but not through, dough. Brush 1 1/2 teaspoons buttermilk over surface of dough; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan; cool on wire racks.

I Went Home this Weekend

What does that matter, you may ask? Well, if you've been reading this blog for long, you know that whenever I go home, I make some form of banana bread. This trip was no different. There were two black bananas awaiting me. Mama even asked, "Are you going to make SUnday breakfast?" YEP! As many times as I've made banana bread or muffins, I still try to find new recipes. This one that I found at The Budding Chef turned out GREAT! Mama commented on how moist it was with a light inside. Usually, homemade banana muffins tend to be a little dense and maybe close to dry...this one was not. The texture reminded me of Betty Crocker Mixes...which is good. I would highly recommend this recipe. And because it has bananas and walnuts (or pecans in my case) it high in antioxidants...so, it's my entry to Sweetnick's ARF Tuesday. Drop by her site and see what other bloggers have come up with. Banana Pecan Muffins Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour, sifted

3 bananas, very ripe
1 egg, beaten
1/3 Cup vegetable oil (I used slightly less)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
A pinch of cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Cup of pecans, chopped coarsely

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Sift the flour, add baking powder, baking soda, salt & cinnamon powder. Mix well to ensure that there are no lumps. Mash the bananas well & add the vanilla essence to it. Add the beaten egg along with sugar & oil and mix well. Add to the dry ingredients. Add the chopped pecans and mix well (but not too much) to bring everything together. Line the muffin pan with muffin paper cups & add enough batter to fill each cup to about 2/3rds to the top. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of each cup. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Check for doneness. A toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin should come out clean.

This recipe yielded about 12 muffins.