Banana Coconut Muffins

Best breakfast muffin!

Banana Coconut Muffins - Adapted from Epicurious

Yield: 12 Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut - I used unsweetened

Directions:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well.
3. Fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.
4. Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.
5. Enjoy!!

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Perfect breakfast muffin!!

Strawberry Banana Muffins - Adapted from Sweetpeaskitchen.com

Yield: 12 Muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup fresh strawberries, cut into bite sized pieces
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position rack in center of oven. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small saucepan melt the butter. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.
4. In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 20 to 24 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
7. Enjoy!!

Toffee Rum Banana Bread

Still have leftover Halloween candy!?  I had a lot of left over heath bar to use so I made this banana bread.  The toffee and the subtle rum flavor was a great twist on traditional banana bread.  I put most of the heath bar on the top of the bread instead of in the middle, which made a nice crunchy toffeey crust!! I would just cut off the top and eat that if I could.  I also liked using chopped up Heath Bar because it has more chocolate in it then the Heath Bits.  I added cinnamon and nutmeg to the recipe because why not.   This is a very moist banana bread and I think it would a huge hit at any holiday party!

Toffee Rum Banana Bread - Adapted from Hershey's

Yield: 1 large loaf or 2 small loafs

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Sugar
3 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon (optional)

1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg (optional)
1/2 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Milk
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Tablespoons Rum (I used Bacardi)
1 Egg
1 Cup Mashed Ripe Banana (about 3 medium)
1 Cup Chopped Nuts (optional)
1 1/3 cups (8 oz. pkg.) HEATH BITS 'O BRICKLE Toffee Bits, divided (I used 10 fun size heath bars)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-1/2x4-1/2x2-1/2-inch baking pans.  I just used one pan and used about 75% of the batter.
2. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add milk, oil, rum, egg and banana; stir with spoon until well blended. Stir in nuts. 
3. Spread 1-1/4 cups batter into bottom of each prepared pan. Top each batter with 1/2 cup toffee bits. Gently spread about 1 cup remaining batter in each pan. Sprinkle remaining bits over batter. 
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. If only making one loaf, bake time will increase to 45-55 minutes.  (Bread will have slight sink in center.) Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen bread from sides of pan. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely.
5. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Ripe bananas are my friend, it means that I get to make banana bread!  This time I didn't want to make just regular banana bread so I found this recipe.  This is one of the best combos - chocolate, peanut butter, and banana!  I love that the bread is marbled.  This is an easy recipe and I highly recommend you try it!  In the original recipe, it calls for peanut butter chips but I didn't have any so I used white chocolate chips just in the batter and used only chocolate chips on the top.   I think the peanut butter chips would have been really good, so if you have them, use them!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread - Adapted from Sugar Plum Blog

Yield: 1 Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/3 Cup Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/3 Cup Chocolate Chips

1/3 Cup Peanut Butter Chips or I used White Chocolate

3 Medium Bananas, very ripe and mashed

3/4 Cup Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed

2 Eggs

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter and flour a 9-inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk in chocolate and peanut butter chips until combined.  
3. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together banana and peanut butter until creamy, about 1 minute; beat in granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy, about 1 minute.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.  
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, until well combined - about 2 minutes. 
5. Divide half of the batter into medium bowl; sift in cocoa powder, and beat until combined.  Alternate spoonfuls of banana batter and chocolate batter into the pan.  
6. When all the batter is in the pan, swirl a knife sparingly through the batters to marble them.  Sprinkle with additional chocolate and peanut butter chips, if desired.
7. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until bread pulls away from pan, is well risen, deep golden brown, and a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs attached.  
8. Cool on a wire rack for 30 hour; run a knife around outer edges and invert onto wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
9. Enjoy!

Hi-Hat Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

So, I was bored today, had a ripe banana, and decided to bake.  The End.

I GOT TWIN CHICKENS!!! This is from one egg!! 

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes - From JoyofBaking.com

Yield about 24

Ingredients:

2 Cups Sugar

1 3/4cups Flour

3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2 Eggs

1 Cup Ripe Bananas (about 3 medium sized bananas mashed)

1 Cup Warm Water

1/2 Cup Milk (I used soy milk because that is what I had)

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350. 
2. In small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3. In another larger bowl, or with your KitchenAid and paddle attachment, mix together the eggs, banana, water, milk, oil and vanilla. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. 
5. Scoop the batter into 24 cupcakes, or until they are about 3/4 full. 
6. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean. 
7. If you are going to do hi-hat cupcakes like the ones in the photos, you should freeze the cupcakes in-between putting the frosting on, and the dipping stage. 
8. Enjoyy! 

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe - From http://acupfullofcake.blogspot.com/
Yield enough for 12 cupcakes so you might want to double it...
Ingredients:
½ Cup Softened Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter (skippy or jif is preferred)
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
¼ or so Heavy Cream (I used soy milk)

Directions:

1. Combine butter with peanut butter and cream add powdered sugar, mixture will be stiff. 
2. Then add the heavy cream a little at a time until you get the consistency you like for spreading or piping. 
3. Make sure that the cupcakes are cool before you frost them - even freeze them. 
4. After they are frosted freeze them!! 

Chocolate Coating Recipe
Ingredients:
2 Cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (or whatever chocolate you have)
2-3 Tablespoons Canola Oil

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate in a double boilers or in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir frequently until everything is mixed and smooth. OR microwave the chocolate but be sure to stir it at least every 30 seconds so it doesn't burn. It should take about 2 minutes. 
2. Once the chocolate is smooth, mix in the canola oil and transfer to a smaller deeper bowl that will be better for dipping. 
3. Let the chocolate coo for 10-15 minutes before dipping. I put it in the freezer to speed up the process. 
4. Take frozen cupcakes and dip them quickly into the chocolate then let the excess chocolate drip off for a few seconds. Make sure that you don't get too much chocolate on the top because that will make them too heavy and you could lose your top into the chocolate... that happened to me when i tried to dip one twice. 
5. Enjoy with a cup of milk! 

P.S. These are amazing cupcakes!! Sooo Delicious!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are for Lakeshore Learning Materials Accounting Department Friday Treat Day!  I normally make cookies or scones, but today I went for muffins!  They turned out very good and everyone loved them.  They are fairly healthy too because of the little amount of butter and they should count as a serving of fruit because of the banana.  This is a perfect recipe if you have at least 3 ripe bananas chillin in your fruit basket.  I didn't, but luckily Trader Joe's had a lot of over-ripe bananas for sale.  Another plus about this recipe is you get a work out while mushing the bananas.  I doubled the recipe and let me tell you mashing 6 bananas is harder then it sounds, or maybe I am still recovering from 3 days of snowboarding.  Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys these muffins as much as I did.

The original recipe is from  http://bakingbetweencities.wordpress.com but i added way more cinnamon to the recipe...I love cinnamon!
Yield: about 15 muffins


Muffin:
1 1/2 Cup Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
3 Ripe Bananas
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1/3 Cup Butter, Melted
1/2 Cup Chopped Chocolate (I used 1/2 Milk and 1/2 Dark Chocolate)


Topping:
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Butter


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line with muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, or KitchenAid mixer, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir in the flour mixture just until moistened. Add chocolate. 
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
4. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins, don't be skimpy about the topping.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.