Banana Muffins!! WHAT, that's not a cookie. How does Daniel's Cookies! fit in with banana muffins. Okay, so now you know this blog is not JUST about cookies. Its about baking. Something I LOVE to do. So here me out.
I have about a dozen frozen banana's in my freezer and I was getting (dare I say) bored with banana bread. Don't get me wrong, I love a good banana bread. My very first banana bread recipe came from Mrs. Green, my good friend Luann's mom. Luann and I went to high school together and are still friends to this day....!!! Mrs. Green was a great baker and shared with me her Zucchini Bread recipe too. OR... maybe its just the STORY of Mrs. Green's Zucchini Bread that I'm thinking of. Luann and I and Luann's husband Ernie, DEVOURING one of her mother's Zucchini Breads after having one too many drinks after a softball game. The bread was left in Luann's car and as we left the softball game (and the bar), Ernie and I started tearing to shreds the Zucchini Bread and eating it like there was no tomorrow. Crumbs EVERYWHERE, and who really cared anyway. What a riot and what a memory! We laugh to this day when we talk about Zucchini Bread.
But I digress. Back to the Banana Muffins. So I really didn't want to make another banana bread right now and I just felt like I was in the mood for a good muffin. Thanks to the internet and a google search I found the answer to my craving. Now mind you I have a gazillion baking books in my possession, but I didn't feel like searching through them and since I don't have a banana muffin recipe in my repertoire that is right at finger tips, I made the search on the web. And what a catch it was. 'Clicking' on the first recipe that popped up, and after reading the reviews on it, I decided to try it. And I must say, its one of the best banana muffins I've had in a long time. I'll be typing up this recipe and saving it in my portfolio.
My only issue at hand is that this recipe made 12 regular size muffins, which really isn't an issue at all, but since there's only my husband and I at home, 12 muffins is really a bit much. We don't NEED to be eating 12 muffins between the two of us, but what can I say, we will.
When making muffins, do not over mix your batter. You're looking for a moist, light muffin. Over mixing will result in something that is dense and chewy. Just fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until JUST combined. I didn't even use a mixer for this recipe, that's how simple it is. When I make a recipe for the first time, I almost always make it as stated. Not deviating from the original recipe until I've made it at least once. I did not heed that advice of mine this time and my gut instincts paid off. After reviewing this recipe, it seemed a little bland, so my tweak to this recipe was adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a half teaspoon of cinnamon as well as using 4 large banana's instead of the three. The more the banana flavor the better I say!! Enjoy! Sharon
These muffins baked up perfectly! You can't go wrong. Here's the link:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Muffins-II/Detail.aspx
Hey Baker Lady. Ok. Wait a minute, you can freeze bananas? !! Who knew?? So what does one do, just put the bananas in the freezers as they are? Or do you peel them first? When you take them out, how long do they take to thaw? Mike is the baker in our family and banana bread is our daughter in laws favorite so it would be nice to whip up a loaf when we know they are coming if we can just pull some bananas out of the freezers. Does the fact that the bananas, having been frozen, compromise the flavor of the bananas? Pls advise!
ReplyDeleteSheri
Hi Sheri, Yes you can freeze bananas! Its wonderful. How many times have I bought bananas and then end up having one or two (or three) that start to brown up a little too much for my liking. I don't like wasting them and so I try not to. But as I said in my post regarding my Banana Muffins, sometimes my freezer starts to explode with over ripe (frozen) bananas. But its all good!
DeleteYes, you can just throw them in your freezer with the peel on. They will be hard as a rock in no time. Also, you can throw them in a Ziplock bag and store them in your freezer that way. As well as....peeling them and mashing them up and then freezing them in a Ziplock bag or some other freezer container.
To thaw them out, just set them out on your counter. But keep them on a dish or paper towel as once they start to unthaw, they will be mushy and possibly a little runny too.
Freezing the bananas does NOT compromise the flavor whatsoever. The texture of the thawed (once frozen) bananas will be quite mushy but that's okay. Usually when making banana bread or muffins, the recipe calls for mashed bananas. Its fine and like I said, its all good!
Great questions. I hope I helped.
Sharon
I am typing this on my kindle and when I re-read my entry I see many mistakes!! Oopppsssss!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't see any mistakes in your post Sheri.....you done good.
Delete