"I'm not a glutton - I'm an explorer of food."
- Erma Bombeck

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Banana Muffins

This recipe came from Giada De Laurentiis over at the Food Network. I made it for the very first time a few weeks ago, and the muffins were absolutely scrumptious! With all the trouble I seem to have making banana bread (bottom gets too dark, top splits, middle is gooey), I decided to pitch all those recipes and keep this one! It's really that good!

3 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 C. sugar
1 C. oil
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
4 bananas, coarsely mashed

Blend dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in bananas. Add dry ingredients, stirring until blended. Pour into 12 jumbo-sized muffin tins (spray the paper liners) and bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

NOTE: The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg, but 1/8 tsp. was enough for me. It also calls for mascarpone cream cheese frosting which, I think, would be overkill. The muffins are simple and deliciously sweet, all by themselves!