Banana Bread Muffins

With this crazy heat going on in Southern California our poor bananas ripened up on our kitchen counter-top before their time! But since we were planning a family movie night I thought perhaps we can make a little treat using these ripe bananas and came across a delicious recipe from Love From the Oven. Be sure to check out her blog – she has some amazing recipes! I love that you don’t need a mixer for this recipe and it takes about 15 minutes (tops) to prepare. So if you have some ripe bananas hanging around, it’s worth the effort because in about 30 minutes you and your family can enjoy banana nut muffins straight out of the oven! They are SO good. This is my favorite banana bread muffin recipe yet! They are super moist, delicious and not too sweet.

I like making banana bread muffins because they are the perfect breakfast on-the-go or quick snack as the kids head out to play. And who am I kidding, I threw down two this afternoon while working. Yes, they are hard to resist. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

You Will Need:

*All Purpose Flour

*Baking Soda

*Baking Powder

*Salt

*Ripe Bananas (easier to mash and sweeter with more flavor)

*Butter

*Brown Sugar

*Eggs

*Vanilla

*Walnuts, Pecans or Chocolate Chips (optional)

12 Muffin Pan

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 medium to large ripe bananas

1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled

3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

2 large eggs beaten lightly

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips (also optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Prepare a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners.
In a large bowl, mash bananas until only small chunks remain. We used a fork to mash them up. Add in melted (and cooled) butter and brown sugar and stir until combined. Stir in beaten eggs and vanilla and stir until combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir ingredients together.
Combine wet and dry mixture until just combined. Do not over-mix. If you want nuts and/or chocolate chips, now is the time to mix them in – gently.
Divide batter between 12 muffin cups.
Place in oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the tops are turning golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Remove from pan and serve.

OPTIONAL: Since all three of us like our banana nut bread differently, I split them up accordingly:

For the one who just wants banana bread and nothing else – fill those muffin cups first.

For the one who likes nuts (with perhaps a few chocolate chips – me) then mix some chopped nuts in the next batch – after you put them in the muffin cup – just use a fork to mix them around.

And for the one who likes chocolate chips (my daughter) you can do this one last and mix the chocolate chips with the remaining batter and put into the cups.

For a nice touch (and to help you know which are which) I added a thick banana slice to the plain ones and walnut ones. For the ones with nuts, I added a big walnut, and for the rest, add a couple chocolate chips on top. It’s just a little something that makes them look kinda pretty!

Now enjoy! Let me know how you like the recipe.