Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Baby Girl was home with me one day when her school was closed for a teacher in-service. We had bananas ripening on the counter and she'd been watching too much TV while I was working, so we took a baking break. My friend Mary Ellen had recommended these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and I couldn't wait to try them.

The ones in this picture are from the second time I made this recipe. The first time (with Baby Girl) I cooked them for 22 minutes and they were very dark and a little more done than I wanted. I have a new oven (and no oven thermometer) and I'm pretty sure the oven runs hot. The second time I made a few substitutions because I didn't have all the ingredients and cooked them for 20 minutes instead and they were perfect. I loved the combo of the sour cream and vanilla yogurt. Definitely use mini chips - they aren't as heavy as a regular chip so they don't sink to the bottom of the batter. There was a nice, even distribution of chips in these.

Baby Girl positively loves these. She asks for one for breakfast every morning and, because she's a bit crazy, she eats them cold straight from the freezer. When I can sneak one away from her, I like to microwave them to get the chill off and then toast them up a bit. I can't wait for more bananas to over ripen so I can make more.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Slightly modified from Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations
Makes 16 muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium-large over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt, sour cream and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the bananas and chocolate chips.

Line muffin cups with paper wrappers or spray with cooking spray. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cups two-thirds full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine were perfect at 20 minutes) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins from the tins to a cooling rack.

Recipe Swap - Blueberry and Lemon Muffins

When I received Jessica's blog for the Blogger's Choice swap I knew I was in trouble. There are just way too many delicious recipes to make. How was I going to choose? We are going on vacation soon and after last year we realized the area where we're staying isn't exactly good in the breakfast department. This year I thought I'd make some breakfast foods at home (muffins and breakfast burritos) and freeze them so we could eat breakfast at the condo instead. I decided to pick one of her many delicious-looking muffin recipes to make and freeze and after much deliberation I settled on Blackberry and Lemon Muffins, subbing blueberries for blackberries simply because we like them better and they're easier to find.


These were incredibly easy to make - mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another then combine. Easy peasy. I ate one before freezing the rest and it was yummy. I wished it was a tad bit sweeter (UPDATE - after eating more than my fair share of muffins while on vacation I've decided the mild sweetness is perfect) but otherwise they were delicious. I'm planning to toast them for breakfast a few times while we're away and serve with plenty of butter (what, we'll be on vacation).

Blueberry and Lemon Muffins
Slightly adapted from Sunny Side Up in San Diego

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of 1 small lemon, about a heaping tablespoon
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons warm melted butter (1 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups (about 6 oz) chopped fresh or frozen blueberries, if frozen defrost and drain liquid

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare 2 muffin tins with 18 liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Set aside

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, butter and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix together just until evenly combined. Add the blueberries and gently fold into the batter. Careful not to over mix, that can cause tough muffins.

Divide the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for just a few minutes, until the muffins are cool enough to handle and transfer to a wire rack.

To freeze - Cool muffins completely. Wrap each muffin in a piece of plastic wrap. Place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

Blueberry Muffins with Strudel Topping

Lately we've been buying a big container of blueberries at the supermarket. They pair beautifully with strawberries and bananas in smoothies and SP likes to take them to work as a snack. He was out of town for three days this past week and the blueberries were getting old fast. I needed something to make with them and then it hit - a craving for muffins. The first recipe I tried was a bust but then I was pointed in the direction of this recipe for Blueberry Muffins with Strudel Topping . Thankfully I had plenty of blueberries to try again.


Excuse the holiday muffin liners. I didn't realize they were Christmas liners until I was looking at the photos. Gingerbread men and Christmas trees in June? Eh, what can you do? Regardless of the wrappers, these were divine. The topping provides a great crunch and the muffin itself is cakey, sweet and bursting with blueberry goodness.

Blueberry Muffins with Strudel Topping
As Seen on Fried Ice and Donut Holes, originally from Annie’s Eats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3-1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries

Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. Line 8 muffin cups with paper liners (I got 9 muffins and I still think they were a little big, so I'd go for 10 and have more, slightly smaller muffins).

Whisk together flour, sugar salt, and baking powder. Pour vegetable oil in a 1-cup glass measuring cup. Add the egg and enough milk to make 1 cup of liquid. Whisk together, then slowly whisk into flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into lined muffin cups.

Combine topping ingredients, mixing with a fork until crumbly and combined. Sprinkle over tops of muffin batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool in muffin tin for 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

I've seen these Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins on various food blogs recently and kept thinking that I needed to make them ASAP. Then the stars aligned and I had leftover cream cheese from Mother's Day and strawberries in the fridge.


I feel like a broken record but I love, love, love working from home. It's rainy and cold this morning and baking seemed like a great idea, so I made these before work. After they cooled I was able to enjoy two of them for breakfast. I cut the recipe in half because I barely had 4oz of cream cheese and definitely didn't have a full cup of strawberries. I figured 12 muffins was better than 24 because I don't trust myself with these in the house. They're so good. Like Melissa said, they aren't overly sweet, which I like. I think they're closer to a cupcake than a muffin, but the strawberries mixed in make me feel slightly less guilty eating them.


Try these now that strawberries are in season. They take hardly any time to put together and the flavor is outstanding. You won't be disappointed!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
From So Tasty, So Yummy via I Was Born to Cook

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together cream cheese, butter and sugar (I used my hand mixer and it worked fine). Add eggs, milk and vanilla and mix until just combined.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. Fold in strawberries.

Spoon batter into paper lined muffin pans. Fill each cup about 3/4 high. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until tops are golden. Cool on rack for at least 15 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins.

Peanut Butter, Banana and Nutella Muffins

We had a few ripe bananas that needed to be used up, along with a container of Finetti (similar to Nutella), so I thought I'd try making the Peanut Butter, Banana and Nutella muffins I'd attempted back in May.


Remembering our issues with these from last time, I increased the amount of peanut butter to a full cup (up from 1/2 a cup) and was much more generous with the Nutella. In fact I was so generous that I ran out and the last 4 muffins had chocolate chips in the center instead. These are much better, moister, with more peanut butter flavor.

Muffins

A woman on a cooking board I frequent posted a recipe for Peanut Butter and Banana Nutella Muffins last week and I knew I had to make them.


Not only was it an easy recipe to prepare (I did all the mixing by hand and we all know I'm not a baker), it used ingredients I almost always have in my pantry.


The finished product was moist and flavorful, but I definitely skimped on the Nutella:


Next time I'll make more muffins (I think I ended up with 19) so I can cram more of that fantastic Nutella into each muffin. Yum!

Sunday Cooking

After breakfast I used the three over-ripe bananas sitting on my counter to make banana chocolate chip muffins:


I ran out of liners so half were naked:


The recipe is similar to the recipe I use for banana bread, but they're supposedly lower in fat. I'm eating two for breakfast right now and they're not as moist as I like, but they still taste great.

Around 4pm we turned on football and got ready for our chicken wing taste-off. The challenger was a wing sauce from a Buffalo, NY bar called Anchor Bar. Our neighbor bought it for us on a recent trip. The wings:


... were peppery and spicy, but nowhere near suicidal like the label claimed.


They were quite tasty, though and put up a good fight against the reigning champion:


... made with good old Frank's hot sauce.


We totally gorged ourselves on wings and celery dipped in blue cheese dressing as we watched the game. I think we overdosed on wings...it'll be awhile before either of us wants to eat them again. But man were they good!

Earlier in the day I made another half order of mac & chese:


... and discovered a conspiracy - a 1lb box of pasta does not actually contain a pound of pasta. The last time I made the mac & cheese I used shells. I measured out 8 ounces of pasta using my kitchen scale. Imagine my surprise when I measured the remaining pasta before making this batch and discovered there was only about 6 ounces left in the box. I opened the rigatoni I used instead and measured first 8 ounces and then the remainder - same thing. This really infuriates me. At least the mac & cheese was good.