Banana Bread

We love this banana bread.   It turns out so moist and stays tasty for days, not that it ever lasts that long. I often make a double batch and place a bunch of muffins in in the freezer for an easy grab and go breakfast.  Another thing I do quite often is bake one tray of mini muffins and add a different mix-in to each row for a fun breakfast. Yesterday I did 2 rows each of of chocolate chip, blueberry, and pecan.  The kids devoured the blueberry and chocolate chip and I preferred the pecan.
I also happen to know that these muffins are very adaptable.  I have substituted yogurt or applesauce for half of the oil, substituted half whole wheat flour for all purpose, used 3 bananas if I didn't have four, and added all sorts of things like flax seed, wheat germ, and  more.  You just can't go wrong since they are a great base muffin...just don't skip the nutmeg!

Banana Muffins

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, mashed

In a stand mixer whisk the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together.  In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together and add to wet ingredients.  Mix until fully incorporated.  Add bananas and mix until just incorporated.  Bake in a 325° oven.  Regular muffins will take about 18-20 minutes, mini muffins will take about 10 minutes and a large loaf or bundt will take over an hour.  I honestly do not ever time my muffins or cakes, I just use my sense of smell and eye ball it or use a toothpick inserted into the middle to test for doneness.

Blueberry Muffins with Yogurt and Flaxseed

My son and I made these muffins together one early morning and they were such a treat.  We substituted whole white wheat flour and added ground flaxseed and wheat germ to up the nutrition value and they were a delicious breakfast that I felt good about serving.   The kids are a little persnickety about "healthy" whole wheat versions of things like pancakes, but these passed the test and they devoured them.  They still have a good bit of sugar in them, but at least they are perfectly portioned so they can have one with a banana or pear to round out their meal.

Blueberry Muffins with Yogurt and Flaxseedmakes 10-12 muffins

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole white wheat flour
1 tablespoon flaxseed
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 C fresh or frozen blueberries tossed with 1 tbsp flour

For the Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Whisk the eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and yogurt in a large bowl.  In a sperate bowl combine the dry ingredients and whisk together to get out any lumps.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine, do not overmix.  Toss frozen blueberries with a tablespoon of flour and gently fold into the batter.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins or tin lined with muffin cups.  Combine crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl and mix with fingers or a fork until sandy.  Generously sprinkle on each muffin and then bake for 20-25 minutes.  Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Butternut Squash Muffins

Today I have another spin-off of our beloved muffins that I'm going to share with you.   Last week I used leftover sweet potatoes to make some tasty muffins that were met with rave reviews from the kids.  Another vegetable that they don't particularly like is butternut squash.  I made two of them last night and as I was packing up the leftovers it dawned on me that I could make muffins with it since it is so similar to pumpkin or sweet potato puree.  So this morning I pulled it out of the fridge and got to work.  The kids actually helped put the squash into the batter and were anxious to try the muffins to see if they tasted as good as the sweet potato muffins.  They could hardly wait for them to cool before they each ate 5 mini muffins and a regular size muffin.  Muffin success!

Butternut Squash Muffins

1 cup cooked butternut squash

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 t cinnamon

1/2 t fresh nutmeg

In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients together and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine squash, eggs, oil, water, and sugars.  Stir the dry ingredients into the squash mixture until just combined.  Pour into prepared muffin pan.  Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick comes out dry, about 12-15 minutes for mini muffins or 15-20 minutes for larger muffins

Corn "Muffins" in a Madeline Pan

You can bake any muffin or bread recipe in a fun madeline shape and it instantly turns into something special and fun to eat. These make perfect-sized nibbles to go with a cup of coffee or tea and are just right for a kid-sized snack.
We have done traditional madelines, chocolate cake, banana bread and more in this pan. Today we tried corn muffins. They tasted great and they freeze really well too. I made a half-batch and it worked beautifully.

Corn Muffins with Buttermilk
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coarse cornmeal
1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously grease 24 standard muffin cups or line them with disposable muffin wrappers.
Pour the butter, buttermilk, and eggs into the large bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt on top. Mix at medium speed just until the ingredients are combined and not lumpy. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full with the batter. Sprinkle sugar over the tops of the muffins. Bake the muffins for 12 to 15 minutes and lightly brown; they should spring back when you touch the tops lightly with your fingertips. Adjust baking time for mini-muffins or madeline pan.

Coffee Hour - Streusel Coffee Cake

On one of my last prenatal visits I was flipping through a magazine and I came upon a tasty looking coffee cake recipe. There I sat in the exam room - knowing that the doctor was going to come in at any moment. I hesitated...imagining her walking in at the exact moment I was tearing the pages out...how embarrassing. I'm sure she wouldn't have cared...but I hadn't ever done that before...so it was a big moment for me. I think I set the magazine down twice before I actually went for it. I tore out the pages, folded them, and put them in my purse. Later that day I went home and made the coffee cake. I'm glad I took that recipe...it turned out to be a keeper.
Here it is from the November 2005 copy of FamilyFun.

Streusel Coffee Cake
Cinnamon Crunch Topping
1 1/2 c pecans or walnuts - chopped
1/3 c packed light brown sugar
2 T flour
1 t cinnamon
3 T cold unsalted butter - cut into pieces

Sour Cream Cake
2 3/4 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c sugar
3 large eggs
1 t lemon zest
1 t vanilla
3/4 c sour cream
1/2 milk

Sweet Glaze (optional)
1 1/4 c confectioners' sugar
2 T milk

Butter a 9 x 13 cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For topping, combine nuts, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or fork.

To make the sour cream cake, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set it aside. Next, cream butter on medium-high speed, gradually adding the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract and blend briefly. Whisk together the sour cream and milk. Mix about a third of the mixture into the creamed ingredients until smooth. Then blend in about a third of the flour mixture. Continue alternately beating in the liquid and dry ingredients by thirds.
Spread half of the batter in the pan. Evenly sprinkle half of the topping on it, pressing it lightly into the batter. Repeat. Bake coffee cake for about 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean from the center.

For the glaze, combine ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until smooth and suitable to drizzle. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze on the cooled coffee cake. Makes 12 or more servings.

Banana-Buttermilk Muffins

I can't think of many things that smell better than muffins and breads baking in the oven. The wonderfully warm aroma fills the entire house. I love how it wafts upstairs and lingers for the entire morning. This morning I crept downstairs bright and early to whip up a batch of banana muffins before my husband woke up. I found the recipe, got everything ready, fed the baby, and preheated the oven. Everything was going smoothly until my 7-month old started babbling at the top of his lungs...waking my slumbering husband. Oh well, maybe he'll get to sleep in some other time.

Banana-Buttermilk Muffins
adapted from Essentials of Healthful Cooking by Williams-Sonoma

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mashed banana
2 T canola oil
1 large egg
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin pan or use paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour and whole wheat flours, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl whisk together the butter-milk, banana, oil, egg, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingedients and stir just until blended. Do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle top with walnuts.

Bake until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes - if you can wait that long!

(I also added walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the batter. )

Wow, were these good. They turned out spongy, moist, and delicious. I would highly recommend adding the nutmeg...the aroma alone will draw you in. I have had to stop myself from going back for seconds. I really want another...but I am trying to be good.