banana cinnamon chip muffins.

so i haven't blogged in forever. i had so many recipes i wanted to try out and take pictures over the holidays but i was so busy that i just didn't get around to it. i really wish i had. i found some great recipes.

i hadn't planned on not posting something for such a long time but after the holidays, i was kind of on a sugar overload. i really didn't want anything sweet in the house. oh yeah, and when you opt for stretchy pants over jeans...it is probably a sign you've had too much sweetness in your life. 

anyway, here is a recipe i have wanted to try for a while. today was a snow day for us...a perfect excuse to bake, right?!

i use the cinnamon chips in one of my favorite recipes, snickerdoodle blondies. i love them...so i am so glad i have another recipe to use them in!

banana cinnamon chip muffins + printable recipe
--recipe from your home based mom

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 c ripe mashed banana
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c sour cream 

1/4 c vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c pecan or walnut pieces (i didn’t use)
3/4 c cinnamon chips

preheat your oven 400 F. line 12 muffins cups with liners or spray with non-stick spray.

in a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

combine banana, sugar, sour cream, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla in another bowl.

add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir just to combine. do not over mix. it will make them tough. 

fold in nuts and cinnamon chips. fill muffin tins about 2/3 to 3/4 full.

bake muffins at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. adjust temperature to 350 and bake for 8-10 minutes more. let muffins cool in tins for about 5 minutes and transfer to cooling racks.

banana bread muffins. number two.

if you liked my other banana bread muffins...i promise you will LOVE these, too! i didn't think i would find a recipe for banana bread that i would love as much as the one i posted here. 

i was wrong.

these are great. they are a little sweeter than any other banana bread i have had. that's not a bad thing. 

they are also a little lighter in color. and kind of crunchy on top. fantastic. 

i had buttermilk left over from the muffins i made these weekend and i knew i had a couple recipes in my stash that i wanted to try that called for buttermilk. i also have bananas left over as well. so this was the perfect recipe for me. 

i think matt ate six of them when he got home from work. and there were even pretzel m&m's in the house, if that tells you anything. he swears these are his favorite muffins now. we'll see. 

p.s. the woman, aunt marilyn, who is credited for this recipe is amazing. i don't know her but i love her. 

every.recipe.i.have.made.of.hers.is.awesome. 

banana bread + printable version 

-- recipe from mel's kitchen cafe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed bananas

4 tablespoons buttermilk
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash baking soda

in a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add eggs, bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. in another bowl, mix dry ingredients. add dry ingredients to banana mixture. mix well. divide batter into greased floured bread pan or prepared muffins tins. bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes for loaf or 20-25 minutes for muffins.   

**i made these without using liners and they were kind of a pain to get out even though i sprayed the pan...next time i will just use liners.

lemon sugar crusted blueberry muffins.

it is no secret that i love to bake. when i am stressed, it calms me down. when i am sad, it cheers me up. and when i am in a good mood, it makes an even better one. i also love to bake for other people.i am fascinated by the idea that food can bring such warmth and love to relationships. i know it sounds dorky but i really feel like i can show my love to others with my baking.

sorry to ramble on here but honestly, if i could bake for a living, i would totally do it. except for the fact that i really, really want to be a teacher. anyway, sometimes i like to fantasize that i have my own bakery, especially after seeing shows like DC cupcakes and cupcake girls but i also realize how much hard work and dedication it would take and decide i am perfectly content with it being a dream. 

a couple months ago, when i started this blog, i thought to myself that i would really love to bake as a side job. just for fun, for others. and i am happy to say for the first time in my life, i can actually say that i was paid to bake! 

so matt's mom, donna sells mary kay makeup. she called me this week to ask if i would bake some muffins for her muffins and makeover party. of course, i said i would. so i decided to bake up the banana bread muffins i posted here and i also made some blueberry ones i found over at mel's kitchen cafe. 

i feel a little silly for being excited about this but i am...oh well!

lemon sugar crusted blueberry muffins + printable version
--recipe found at mel's kitchen cafe

lemon-sugar topping:

1/3 cup sugar

zest from one lemon

stir lemon zest and sugar together in a small bowl. set aside for later. 

muffins:

2 cups frozen blueberries (or 2 cups fresh)

1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

preheat oven to 375 degrees. spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or use paper liners. rinse one cup berries under cold water and spread on a double layer of paper towels to dry. bring remaining one cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6-8 minutes. transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 10 to 15 minutes.

whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. toss the berries that have dried on the paper towels in with the flour mixture. whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds. slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined. fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. the batter will be lumpy with a few dry spots of flour. don't over mix.

fill the muffin cups until they are about 3/4 full. spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. using a skewer or a toothpick, gently swirl the berry filling into the batter. sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.

bake until the top of the muffins are golden and just firm, 17-18 minutes. cool muffins in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool. 

banana bread muffins.

so i thought i should mix it up a bit. something other than cookie club and over the top sweets. as a result, i'm posting my favorite banana bread muffin recipe. i love banana bread. who doesn't? but i usually have a hard time cooking it long enough so that the middle is done without the outside being burnt. is it just me? in effort to solve this problem, i decided to make muffins. holy cow. these muffins are divine. all i need is some butter and i am in heaven. actually, they don't really even need butter - they are that good. the recipe i use is posted on all recipes, although i have no idea what the original recipe post is called. banana bread recipe II? yeah, that must be it. i'm sure of it.

a lot of time i never bake/cook things as long as the recipe suggests. i always like things underdone. however, in this case, i like banana bread to be 'done.' the tops end up being almost crunchy, sweet goodness. so good.


banana bread muffins + printable version

-- original recipe from all recipes

3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 c butter, melted
1 c sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c flour

preheat oven to 350. line 12 - 16 cupcake tins with paper liners. i always end up with a different amount of muffins every time i make these. it just depends on how big your bananas are or how many you use. like today, i only had two medium size bananas and it made about 13 muffins, filled 2/3 of the way. or spray with non-stick spray.

in a large mixing bowl, mix melted butter into mashed bananas. mix in sugar, egg, and vanilla.

sprinkle baking soda & salt over banana mixture. mix to combine. add flour in last. mix until just combined.

add about 2 Tbsp of batter to each liner. or about 2/3 full. bake for 18-20 minutes. like i said earlier, i like them a little dark so i end up closer to 20 minutes.


**if you want to bake this as a loaf, the original directions say to pour mixture into a buttered 4 x 8 inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour at 350. cool on rack and remove pan to slice. like i said, i never have much luck with banana bread loaves. but i'm sure you won't have any problems!

cinnamon sugar muffins.

also known as french breakfast puffs. i found this recipe on pioneer woman's blog. but i am pretty sure i have made these before. they were just called something else. anyway, these are so good. and they freeze really well. if you have any left to freeze, that is. by the way, my boyfriend says these are his new "favorite" muffins. i'm pretty sure he had four scarfed down before i was even finished rolling them in cinnamon sugar. and he probably had about four more when i told him i was finished taking the pictures. and then he had a stomach ache. big surprise.

cinnamon sugar muffins + printable recipe

muffins:
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 c sugar

2/3 c shortening

2 eggs

1 c milk

cinnamon sugar topping:
1 1/2 c sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

2 sticks butter

preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease about 12 muffin cups. i actually made around 20 muffins when i made them.

stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. set aside for later.

in another bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. add eggs and mix. stir in flour mixture alternating with milk until you have a creamy mixture.

fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. bake for between 20-25 minutes or until golden.

in a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. i thought this was a lot a first so i only did one stick but i definitely needed 2. in a different bowl, combine 1 1/2 c sugar and cinnamon. dip muffins in butter, swirling around to make sure the muffins are well coated and roll muffins into cinnamon-sugar mixture.

**p.s. like i said earlier, these muffins freeze really well! since we had way more muffins than we needed to eat, i decided to freeze some and i can say for sure that they definitely taste just as good reheated...maybe even better.