Banana muffins

• 3 large bananas
• 3/4 cup (American) of white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 (1.5) cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup melted butter

1. Mash the bananas, and add the sugar and the slightly beaten egg;
2. Add the melted butter (or you could use oil);
3. Add the dry ingredients, and bake at 190C/375F for 20 minutes

Be sure to fill the muffin tins right to the brim, having greased the tops of the tins as well, to get really big ones (like the ones you can buy in the shops!)

Peanut's Fabulous Banana Muffins with Crumb Topping

I'm addicted to any muffin that is adorned with a crumbly topping. My cravings are so bad that I'll only eat the tops of muffins just so I can increase my crumb-to-muffin ratio. Fortunately these banana muffins, decorated with an excellent butter and brown sugar topping, calm my urges. As with any baked good using bananas, the bananas are best when they are overripe to the point of turning black. I try to buy bananas a week before I make these muffins to allow them to thoroughly ripen.

Makes 10 muffins.

Grab:

For the muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups flour (preferably unbleached flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 overripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup melted butter

For the topping:

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/8 cup flour
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

Make:

Take out a muffin pan and line 10 cups with muffin papers. Spray the paper and pan with oil to prevent the muffins from sticking

Get out two medium-sized bowls. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in one and the wet ingredients (mashed bananas, sugar, egg, and butter) in the other. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix everything just until it is blended. Do not overmix. Spoon the batter equally into the 10 muffin cups.

Now for the topping. Dump the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl. Using a pastry blender or a fork, blend everything until the butter is incorporated evenly into the topping. It should look like clumps of sand. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until the topping looks nice and brown and the muffins spring back when you poke them. Let the muffins cool and pull them out of the pan. Eat now!

If you want, you can freeze these muffins for later consumption. Be sure to wrap them well with foil or saran wrap before tossing them in the freezer. However, I've never done this as all the muffins mysteriously disappear before I get a chance...

As mentioned in the previous writeup this recipe works best when your bananas are easily mashed. Quite often stores will have elderly bananas for sale at a fraction of what you would pay for the full price green or yellow variety. These muffins are both gluten and dairy free, they are also lower in sugar than their conventional friends. I've adapted this recipe from one that has been in my family for years so please feel free to tweak as you see fit.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius.

• 1/2 Cup (60 grams) Almond Flour - also known as Almond Meal - I use Bob's Red Mill
• 1/4 Cup (30 grams) Sorghum Flour - this can be difficult to find even in stores that stock the Bob's Red Mill brand
• 1/4 Cup (30 grams) Flaxseed Meal
• 1/4 Cup (30 grams) Quinoa Flakes
• 1/3 Cup (35 grams) Coconut Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder

Set aside dry ingredients and combine the following in a separate container:

• 1 Cup ripe mashed bananas - Three usually works well
• 1 Egg
• 12 drops Vanilla Stevia - if using plain stevia I recommend doubling the vanilla
• 1 teapoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup (4 ounces) melted Coconut Oil
• 1/8 Cup (2 ounces) Enjoy Life Mini Chips

After the wet ingredients have been combined with the dry I sprinkle mini chocolate chips over the batter. The original recipe called for 1/4 Cup (30 grams) which I feel is overly much. The Enjoy Life brand of mini chips is suprisingly good considering how awful some of their other products are. They are also gluten, dairy, nut and soy free.

The batter will seem wet and you can adjust the oil down however I've had better luck with the amount listed. This is a very flexible recipe, I've used pumpkin instead of the bananas, skipped the cinnamon, added Five Spice powder and thrown a touch of cayenne pepper in for Spicy Pumpkin Muffins. You can also omit the cinnamon, add lemon zest and exchange the chips for wild blueberries if you would like a citrus twist on Banana Blueberry Muffins.

This recipe can be adapted to make cranberry muffins. Replace the bananas with however many chopped cranberries you feel is appropriate, skip the cinnamon, the vanilla, and use plain Stevia. Grated orange rind is a nice addition and I would recommend a half teaspoon of xanthum gum to help hold the cranberry muffins together.

This recipe usually nets 12 standard sized muffins. Bake for twenty minutes or until the tops are golden. While this recipe features expensive ingredients these muffins have received good reviews from children and adults alike. Most people can't tell that the sweetener is stevia and if you use coconut sugar you get a richer flavor than if you substitute. If anyone makes these and has a recipe recommendation I would love to hear it! These muffins freeze well and I'm sorry I don't have any nutritional information available. Muffins are best served warm with a steaming mug of fresh tea. Enjoy!