Wild Blueberry and Banana Muffins

I do love bananas, if you haven’t figured that out already. Banana bread, banana muffins, banana halwa, banana smoothie, french toast with bananas are just a few of my favorite foods. Growing up, sliced bananas in a bowl of cold milk were my favorite breakfast. It was either the taste I grew up on or some weird coincidence but when I was pregnant with my son, the only food I craved was a banana and a glass of milk. Thankfully it was a craving easy to satisfy, or so I thought. So it wasn’t the usual story of me demanding ice cream, pickles or fried food in the middle of the night. It was instances of me waking up in a hotel room (on vacation in Florida) and demanding a banana and a cold glass of milk from room service at 2am in the morning. I’ve got to admit that was the most expensive banana I’ve ever had!

It’s probably no wonder that banana muffins are Nikhil’s favorite snack.

And so, when my friend, Bharathi, made these scrumptious yet very healthy blueberry banana muffins, I had to try them and share, despite the many banana bread and muffin recipes that you already see here.

Ingredients: (Makes 12 muffins or 24 mini-muffins)

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup frozen wild blueberries (from Costco or other health food store)

1 over ripe banana

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tbsp white distilled vinegar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup almonds (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the flour, brown sugar, nuts and baking soda in a mixing bowl.

2. In a blender, grind the frozen wild blueberries, banana, vanilla essence, olive oil and vinegar to a smooth paste.

3. Make a well in the bowl with the dry ingredients and add the blueberry-banana mixture.

4. Mix well with a beater. Alternatively, you can mix everything in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

5. Line the muffin pans, and spray with oil if needed. Fill the muffin cups with the batter.

6. Bake in the heated oven for 17-19 minutes.

I added nuts to this which is a modification from the original recipe. Adding the nuts gives the muffins a cracked surface. I tried a batch without nuts and it turned out smooth on the surface. I also added slivered almonds as topping just to give it a different look.

Vanilla Cupcake

I haven’t been baking much this year aside from the ones already posted here, the banana bread and the pistachio cookies, all the same tried recipes. I did get the idea once to bake a batch of different cookies and give them as homemade gifts this year, to add that personal touch. But like everything else, the time got away from me and I resorted to gift cards, once again, the tried and true method:) I know, sounds a little boring, but aside from looking up some delectable recipes on the web, I couldn’t get myself to actually shake things up a little this season. Until I went grocery shopping with my nephew and he told me he was craving cupcakes and wanted to buy some, from Walmart! Of all the places, I thought. I mean, Walmart is fine for basic groceries, but I don’t consider it to be a place to buy gourmet food.

Is vanilla cupcake considered “gourmet food”, probably not, but I had my biases with Walmart anyway. Of course, my actual response was, “I’ll make a better cupcake for you!!” There, I had said it. Now I had opened myself up to a challenge that I make better cupcakes than Walmart. Should have said “better than “Sprinkles” – the best cupcake-ry in town, but I had to start small:)

So we got home and I started on the challenge of making the cupcakes from scratch, the cake, frosting and all….I was not going to use a mix or frosting out of a box or can. That’s probably not a big deal for most, but it felt good, saying that at least;)

In case you’re curious, I got the recipe from here.

Vanilla Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lemon (optional)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

Buttercream Frosting:

2 cups confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2tablespoons milk or light cream

Method:

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. In a food processor or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture will look a little curdled. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. If using the stand mixer, chage the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment. If using a food processor, continue as is. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. You may scrape the top off a little to flatten the top of the muffin so the frosting goes on smoothly.

For the Frosting:

In an electric mixer, or standmixer, cream the butter until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed.

Verdict: According to my nephew, he may not buy a Walmart cupcake again:) It turned out moist and just right, like the recipe said it would.

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins

Another healthful and delicious entry from Anusuya’s kitchen. I have never had luck with eggless baking so far, and the few times I have tried making cakes or breads without egg, they have either resembled pudding (I’m not kidding) or I’ve needed a heavy duty weapon to slice through the hardened sunk dough. A visit to Anusuya’s kitchen not only gave me a taste of delightful and very, very edible eggless muffins but she was gracious to give me the recipe. Tried it at home last week, and sure enough, the result was unbelievable…I was finally successful at eggless baking! These whole wheat banana bread muffins are eggless and full of goodness, made of 100% whole wheat flour. I also added a tbsp of flax seeds, for that extra boost of fiber. Here’s the recipe …

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup (heaped)

Brown sugar – 1 cup (packed)

Bananas – 3, mashed

Corn oil – 1/2 cup (You can also use olive oil – not extra virgin, but plain or canola oil here)

Baking soda – 1 tsp

Vanilla extract – 1 tbsp

Nuts (walnuts or pecans) – 2 tbsp

Flax seed meal – 1 tbsp (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F

2. Mash the bananas with a fork. Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract and oil and mix well.

3. Sift the flour with the baking soda. Now slowly add the flour to the banana mixture a little at a time. (I used a Kitchenaid mixer to mix the flour with the banana here, but you can also just mix with a spatula manually until just combined.)

4. Fold in the nuts and the flax seeds.

5. Take a 12 cup muffin pan or a 24 cup mini muffin pan. Add a scoop of the batter each to each cup, with an ice cream scoop. (You can either line the cups with baking cups or spray with a non-stick spray before you add the batter)

6. Bake at 350F for 21-23 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Tip: If you’re like me, you almost always have over-ripe bananas in your kitchen, as I tend to buy more than we usually consume. One tip I will share that has worked with me is to freeze the over-ripe bananas. The skin of the fruit usually gets dark in the freezer but the taste remains unchanged. Good way to store the weekly stash of over-ripe bananas and keep the fruit flies from starting a family in your kitchen. When you need the bananas, just thaw them in the fridge overnight or for a few hours at room temperature.