Labor Day!

Hope you are having a great Labor Day!  I just made the most delicious banana nut muffins thanks to Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, of The Food Network.  

Right out of the oven.  They smelled amazing, like cinnamon and bananas.

 

I got a total of 23 regular sized muffins, which is great because I can freeze half of them.  I added three bananas and about 1/2 cup of chopped pecans to mine.  I left out the coconut,granola, and banana chips, and swapped out the walnuts for pecans because I had them on hand.  I also added a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture to the top of mine, instead of all Ina's toppers. 

Basically I kept the recipe very simple and made it my own. You should too!  Use what you have on hand.  Next time, I may make these with apples instead of bananas for a change.

Banana Crunch Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  
• 2 extra-large eggs
  
• 3/4 cup whole milk
  
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
  
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
  
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts
  
• 1 cup granola
  
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  
• Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't over mix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.