May 18th: Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins

To date, these are the best banana muffins I have made. From Epicurious: Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins. My bananas were way rotten, so I reduced the white sugar from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup. Good idea. I like my muffins to taste like muffins, not cake. The website says they have a hint of the tropics, which I assume is supposed to come from the nuts, but I didn't find this to be the case. I bought my macadamia nuts a few months ago, maybe that's an issue? The nuts  didn't have much flavour at all. I'm thinking of adding coconut on top next time. I wonder what coconut milk in place of cow's milk would taste like...

Bed night snack

Breakfast of champions: including Grandma's crabapple jelly.

November 7th: banana bread

I realize I teased two weeks ago, referencing my mom's banana bread without providing the  recipe. Luckily, Greg let a few more bananas go brown, so I had to make, and can share, this recipe with you. There is none better!


Banana Bread


1/2 cup sour milk (see below for instructions)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed overripe bananas (2-3)
2 cups flour
2 tsps baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


To prepare sour milk: Place 1/2 tsp vinegar in a measuring cup. Top up with milk to reach 1/2 cup. Stir and set aside.


Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter 1-2 medium-large loaf pans.*


In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas.


In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.


Alternately add dry ingredients and sour milk to large bowl. Mix thoroughly.


Divide batter between greased loaf pans. Bake for 40-60 minutes, depending on size of pans. Check frequently for doneness towards end of cooking.


*I don't have a proper-sized loaf pan, so I use one 8 x 4 and then two mini loaf pans. The mini pans take less time to cook, obviously.

UPDATE: February 5, 2014: I made this banana bread today but wanted to up the health quotient. I cut the sugar back to 1 cup and used 1 cup each all-purpose and whole wheat flours. It turned out great. Next time, I might try just 3/4 cup sugar.

October 23rd: banana pudding

Greg went away for the weekend, leaving behind a heap of bananas he didn't get around to eating, that had gone past their prime. O and I resolved the problem with a banana-cooking-festus. We made two banana recipes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: banana loaf and banana pudding. The loaf was not as good as Mom's recipe, so I won't use it again. The pudding, however, was the star of the show. Delicious warm; Delicious cold. You should make this.


Banana Pudding

2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tbsps cornstarch
2 tbsps unsalted butter, softened (optional)
whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Put 2 cups of the milk, the sugar and the salt in a small to medium saucepan over medium-low heat. If you're using vanilla bean, split it in half lengthwise and use a small sharp knife to scrape the seeds into the milk; add the pod. Cook just until it begins to steam. Add the bananas and steep them in the warm milk for about 20 minutes. Strain out the bananas and vanilla pod; discard them and return the milk mixture to the pot.

Combine the cornstarch and the remaining milk in a bowl and stir to blend; there should be no lumps. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and just starts to boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to very low and continue to cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes or so. Stir in the butter if you're using it and the vanilla if you're using extract.

Pour the mixture into a 1-quart dish or into 4 to 6 small ramekins or bowls. Put plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming (or leave uncovered if you like skin). Refrigerate until chilled and serve within a day, with whipped cream if you like.

Makes 4-6 servings.

May 8th: Banana-pecan make-ahead muffins

After successfully making lemon-poppy seed muffins last weekend, I was keen to try another version of Cook's Illustrated make-ahead muffins, this time opting for banana-pecan.

Banana-Pecan Muffins

3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

10 tbsps (1/2 cup + 2 tbsps) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (7 oz) sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups finely diced banana

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce mixer speed to medium-low and beat in half of flour mixture, followed by one-third of yogurt. Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, followed by half of remaining yogurt; repeat with remaining flour mixture and remaining yogurt. Stir in banana and pecans. Portion batter evenly into greased 12-cup muffin pan.

Refrigerate muffin pan, covered, up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 1 month. After muffin batter is completely frozen, about 6 hours, batter balls can be transferred to bag or container for freezer storage. Transfer batter balls back to prepared muffin pan before baking.

Heat oven to 375°F. Place frozen batter balls in muffin pan and bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes if refrigerated or 35-40 minutes if  frozen. Let muffins cools in pan 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 12-15 delicious muffins.

Frozen batter

The fact this works just amazes me