You asked for it....Installment 2 - Hannah's Banana Muffins

I am somewhat of a fanatic when it comes to food. Trying to making food healthy and yet not taste like dry cardboard is high on my to do list.

A few weeks back I paid a visit to my newlywed friend Hannah.  As we sat chatting she served up all things appropriate to my current "diet".  She was super excited to share her freshly made loaf of banana bread. Now I love banana bread but my family isn't a huge fan, so it is not often on our menu. Hannah had some delectable chocolate pieces in her loaf and informed me it was low in sugar.  It was delish, so of course as I left I asked for her recipe which she promptly shared. The original recipe was called Skinny Banana Bread and was authored by Lauren Allen. 

I set out to create some yummy of my own and have been quite delighted with the results.

 

 

 

I decided first that I would bake the loaf in my muffin pan since I seem to have bad luck with getting the loaf baked all the way through before the outside is burned.

 

 

Secondly, since I am still trying to steer clear of sugar, I decided to see if I could cut the sugar out altogether though the original recipe only has about 1/2 cup sugars (brown and white) 

total,  since bananas are a sweetener on their own.  It worked. Trust me, I did a happy dance.  Now, if you have a hankering for a bit of extra sweet, add a few chocolate chips which are super yummy and make these a hit with my kidos.  The excellent part is they store perfectly for an easy to grab breakfast with your cup of coffee or a mid morning treat...IF the kids leave any for me.

And of course I think of my sweet Hannah whenever I make them. 

 

 

Are you drooling yet?  Here is the recipe with my latest tweaks.

 

 

4 bananas mashed

1 egg

1 T. vanilla

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

*1 1/2 c flour

2 T. butter, melted

**yummy add in items:  Chocolate chips, pecans, coconut...the list of possibilities is endless.

 

 

* In my last batch, I used freshly ground whole wheat instead of my typical King Arthur Unbleached (amazing stuff for all things baked)  Good flavor,  but as with most whole wheat baking you must add a bit more baking powder/soda.  (I am still tweaking those exacts) Or you could try 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat.

 

**My favorite add ins are 1/4 c chopped pecans and 1/4 c chocolate chips.

 

Mash bananas in mixer bowl. Add rest of ingredients and mix well.  Grease 8 muffin cups in a regular sized muffin tin or line with paper.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned. Test with toothpick to make sure they are baked through. All ovens are different.... Try them!  Let me know what you think and what tweaks you made. 

 

 

 

 My sweet friend, Hannah, the new Mrs. Yang (the fact that she's baking things in her own kitchen makes me feel soooo old.  After all, she was a darling 2 year old just yesterday)