Banana Nut Muffins

Ever have those days when you look in to your fruit basket and all of your freshly bought bananas have been tainted by the one brown banana? It rarely happens in my house because we have banana addicts but when it does I celebrate because I love banana bread, banana cake, banana muffins. (Maybe the banana addicts got the addiction from me..)

 I love this recipe because it isn't just mashed bananas, there are some blended right in to the batter. Plus I froze some they did amazing for Saturday morning breakfast. Yay!!

 Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.
Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I love the fall time. It is my favorite season. All of my favorite things. Sweaters, tea, apples, pumpkins. The smells are amazing. The colors changing. It makes me so happy.

These muffins make me happy. Don't be surprised if I find out you are making them and I happen to stop over for a visit. Seriously they are that good. Not only are they that good but I had everything in my pantry already which is an added bonus. Well, except for cupcake liners but I like these better without. Just some spray grease and pan.

Another reason I like these so much is the fact that I have a very helpful 4 year old girl who wants to help bake everything. Sometimes she is helpful and sometimes she's a hindrance. This time she was a helper and an added bonus is that it's her favorite kind of helping. The kind where your fingers get dirty and you get to lick them clean which is okay because germs are killed when baked right???  Either way they are great for the whole family.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins
source: Brye Crockett

Note: The first time I ever made these I filled the tins 1/4 of the way up then added the cream cheese mixture and then added more muffin mix and it hid the cream cheese as a surprise. This time I filled them 1/2 up and added the cream cheese. Even though I tried to cover up the cream cheese it wasn't as successful. Both ways are equally good. It jut depends on preference.

3 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
2 c. pumpkin puree
1 1/4 c. applesauce (or oil)

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. butter

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and butter well. Spread in to log on freezer paper, roll it up and put it in the freezer.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Fill muffin pan (see note) and scoop in 1-2 tsp. cream cheese mixture in to the muffin batter. Bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool and eat.

These freeze well and just microwave them to warm them up but ours never last that long.