(counts as a fruit, right?)
Yes, I know bananas, as a fruit, technically already contain carbs. But they're not as carby as banana MUFFINS, which I like to think of as a superior form of both the banana and the muffin. I like banana bread just fine, but it doesn't lend itself to snacking quite as well as muffins do, and I actually like the fluffier texture of these muffins to the denseness of loaf banana bread. I suppose you could add nuts, or chocolate chips. I wouldn't; I love these muffins just the way they are. They've been my go-to dessert/sweet for a couple weeks; I've considered being REALLY crazy and making a cream cheese frosting or something to put on top of them and call them cupcakes (see this post), but like I said, I love them just the way they are.
Banana Muffins
adapted from somewhere on the internet - I wrote it on a post-it and I forgot where it's from
(makes 8 muffins or 6 large muffins; total time ~30 mins)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 soft, ripe bananas
1 egg
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
0) Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin pan.
1) Beat together first 4 ingredients until smooth.
2) Sift together last 4 ingredients.
3) Combine 2 mixtures gently just until entire mixture is wet. Don't worry about lumps.
4) Drop batter into muffin pan cups and bake for ~25 minutes.
Notes: This recipe uses the universal method for making quick breads - combine wet ingredients, combine dry ingredients, mix until both are just combined. If you know this method, you don't have to write anything down for muffin/pancake/etc. recipes except the ingredients and the oven temp/time. Sometimes not even that, as 350 seems to be the universal oven temperature a lot of the time, and you could really just bake things until they're browned and a toothpick comes out clean.
I've been experimenting with the flour and sugar types in this recipe: the incarnation in the photo has 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all-purpose flour, and 1/2 Splenda and 1/2 brown sugar. I like the brown sugar with bananas better than white; next time I may try all whole wheat flour. The 1/2 didn't seem to affect the flavor or texture appreciably.
