Mushy Bananas

Bananas are pretty popular at the Wright house. Not only do James and I like them, but our dog Brian is CRAZY about bananas. One may even say he "goes bananas" for bananas. (Ahh, I love puns!) This little guy can be sleeping under the bed, but the moment you separate a banana from the bunch, he is at your feet. It's almost like he has a sixth sense when it comes to the delicious yellow fruit.

While bananas rarely make it to the spotty, brown, over-ripe stage in our house, I often buy extra so I can make these wonderful muffins. They're low fat/low cholesterol (only 3 tablespoons of oil and 2 egg whites--no yolks) but you'd never know it! Try this recipe when you have some mushy bananas on hand!

Banana-Nut Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1 cup mashed bananas (that's 2 or 3 bananas--either way, they come out well)
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. lemon zest (but I like 2 tsp.--the lemon is so subtle but good!)
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or, 1/2 cup chocolate chips-- your choice!)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites slightly. Stir in bananas, sugar, oil, and lemon peel. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in pecans (or chocolate chips). Fill muffin tin cups 2/3 full.
4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until tops are slightly browned. Cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 12 muffins, though I consistently make 11.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do--leave a comment if you make them and tell me what you think!

P.S. In my humble opinion, muffins always taste better when served from a basket lined with a pretty cloth napkin. Pretty food always tastes better.

P.P.S. I haven't ever tried to print these blog pages, but I am pretty sure they wouldn't print well. My advice? Copy and paste the recipe into a word document, and then print it. Don't waste your time writing it out--get in the kitchen!