A little like cake, a little like a muffin, a lot of yum.
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s Muffins, Infinite Ways recipe.
If only all produce, upon ripening too fast and becoming mushy, spotty, and gross, could be turned into deliciousness like bananas. It goes a long way in making up for their Hobbit hole-sized window of perfect ripeness (Eddie Izzard, anyone?). There are an infinite number of fabulous banana bread recipes (a few here even), and they can range from healthy and hearty to decadent and chocolate-filled. This recipe, which can be made as muffins or a bread, is a wonderful middle ground, pairing not-too-sweet with a moist yet light cake texture. Of course, either form is best warmish with a smidge of butter and strawberry jam.
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour or substitute up to 1 cup with white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
6 Tbl butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mashed bananas, about 2 bananas worth
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 brown sugar
1-2 tsp Penzeys Cake Spice
Directions
Heat the oven to 375. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or loaf pan.
Mix together the first three dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) in a bowl. In a second bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, and mashed banana. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, then moisten with a little of the milk. Repeat until all of the ingredients are used up, taking care not to overmix. The batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but quite moist; add a little more milk if necessary.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about 2/3 full, or into a loaf pan. My small assistant and I used silicone molds with nice results.
Spoon a generous bit of brown sugar mixed with Penzeys Cake Spice over the top.
Bake for 20 minutes for muffins or 40-50 minutes for the bread. The results are light in color, fluffy, and the brown sugar on top adds a hint of crunch. Now to figure out if these are breakfast or dessert…
