Goin' Bananas

Bananas, one of the most common fruits in the produce aisle, they are there in every season and every store.  We are so used to seeing them that we forget that they are actually exotic and travel a long way to get here.  Everyone in my house wants them on the shopping list yet when they are here they rarely get eaten in time.  Black bananas in the fruit bowl are a common sight.

In my grandmother's youth bananas would certainly have been considered a luxury and wasting them would not have been an option.  Waste not want not - hence the invention of banana bread.  I don't like to waste them any more than my grandmother would, and considering the carbon footprint of a banana shipped to CT it would be crime to.

So when your bananas are goin' make some banana bread.  My friend Donna, who is also a thrifty Yankee gal (and Red Sox fan), makes banana bread all the time.  Her tasty loaves are filled with chocolate chips and often given to friends  - now that's a way to make someone's day!  I like banana bread but find that banana muffins make very convenient snacks, great with a cup of tea or in a lunch box. 

My favorite recipe is adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks: Dairy Hollow House, Soup & Bread, A Country Inn Cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon

Banana Muffins:

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar 

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup of milk

6 tablespoons of melted butter

1 large egg beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 mashed bananas

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F .  Combine all dry ingredients, in a separate bowl mash bananas and set aside, combine all wet ingredients, add bananas to the dry ingredients followed by the wet ingredients, fold together gently until combined.  Add nuts or chips.  Fill paper muffin cups or greased muffn tin 3/4 full with batter.  Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through in center.  Enjoy!