Banana Blueberry Muffins

Moist banana muffins filled with juicy blueberries. Grandma's recipe for banana bread makes the perfect, quick breakfast!

I didn't mean to stay away from my blog for so long...It's been a busy couple of weeks! I've begun baking Christmas goodies and will have recipes to share soon. For now, I have this delicious muffin recipe.

This recipe is one I adapted from Grandmother. I have two great recipes for banana bread from both grandmother's (you can find the other banana bread recipe here). This recipe is from my paternal grandmother and is very rich and buttery. She always baked this in a loaf pan (since it is a bread recipe) but I occasionally will bake them as muffins to save time and give us something more "portable" to eat for breakfast. The recipe doesn't make a "pretty" bakery style muffin but once you bite into it, you won't care how it looks. The bananas create such a moist muffin that get softer the longer you store them. I love adding fresh blueberries to the bread but the bread is great on it's own as well.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature and beaten (Grandma's original recipe calls for 2, but I prefer to use 1)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, sour cream or Greek yogurt (I've tried all three and they all work fine)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6-8 ounces of fresh blueberries

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffins tins with cooking spray, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, mix together the mashed bananas, sugar, and butter until smooth and velvety. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk until well combined. Fold in the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Do not over mix. Stir in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-28 minutes until muffins are golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before serving or storing.

Note 1: Want to bake this in a loaf pan? Grease or spray a loaf pan and bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes for inverting onto a cooling rack. 

Note 2: Overripe bananas are always best for banana bread. Bananas not ripened yet? Line bananas on a rimmed baking sheet (still in their peel) and bake in a 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. The peel should be lightly brown or have brown spots. Allow bananas to cool completely before peeling and mashing for the bread.

Adapted from my Grandmother

Homemade, Fluffy Pancakes

I'm not big on breakfast food, but every once in a while I enjoy a good "brinner" (breakfast + dinner). These pancakes are light and fluffy make a hearty addition to your breakfast menu. They are super easy to make and come together in 30 minutes or less!

One method I'll explain is the "sour milk" method. The recipe calls for milk and vinegar to be mixed together. This creates a sour milk or buttermilk base for your pancake. I typically make buttermilk this way. I rarely have it on hand, so when a recipe calls for buttermilk, I use this method and its subs just fine. Of course, if you have buttermilk, that will work just the same.

I mix all the ingredients together and pour into a large measuring cup like so. This make it's easier for pouring the pancakes.

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. I also respray in between pancake batches as needed. I do not have a griddle so I used my cast iron skillet. It worked great, but you can only cook two at a time.

Pour the batter until desired pancake size. I used around 1/2 cup for larger pancakes, 1/4 cup for small pancakes (Of course, I just eyed it and didn't measure correctly because I'm too lazy to measure my pancakes). Pancakes are ready to flip when batter begins to bubble and edges are set.

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.


Fluffy Pancakes

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• Pam cooking spray

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk milk and vinegar together. Allow to sit and "sour" for 5 minutes.

2. In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Once milk is ready, whisk in butter and eggs. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Stir until the dry is incorporated and there are no lumps remaining. Do not overmix.


3. Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Pour pancake batter to desired pancake size: 1/2 cup for larger pancakes, 1/4 cup for small pancakes. Cook until bubbles appear and edges are set. Flip pancake and cook until browned on the other side. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Yields: 9-10 Large pancakes or 18-20 small pancakes

Adapted from All Recipes

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

My favorite breakfast foods are ones that are quick, easy and can be eaten on the run. I often make muffins or scones because I can bake them the night before, and pack them for our breakfast the next morning. I had some plump, fresh blueberries to use and wanted to find a rich, streusel muffin recipe to try. I came across this from Taste of Home and looked like it would be a good one. The muffin has a soft texture that pairs well with the crisp, sweet, streusel topping. The streusel has a hint of cinnamon and give the right amount of richness to the muffin. I think this muffin recipe will be a keeper!

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Yields: 1 dozen muffins

From Taste of Home

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries* 

Streusel Topping:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted cold butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or paper line a 12 cup muffin pan.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Mix together and then cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In a mixing bowl, cream softened butter and sugar until light and creamy, about five minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together and mix in alternately with milk. Mix until you no longer see flour but do no over mix. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and top each cup with a generous amount of the streusel topping. Bake for 25-30 or until golden brown. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack.

*Original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of blueberries. I had some plump blueberries so I thought one cup was plenty. Use your own judgement when making the muffins. If you like more blueberries, use more!

Banana Bread

One of my favorite ways to use up ripe bananas is to make homemade banana bread. This is my grandmother's recipe that has been a tried-and-true staple in my house. It makes for a delicious snack or quick breakfast.


Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted better
2 eggs, beaten
3 ripe bananas
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or nut of choice


Sift dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mash bananas until smooth and creamy. Mix in melted butter and eggs. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Be careful not to over mix or the bread will be tough.  Pour mixture in a greased loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at  350 degree oven for 1 hour or until the loaf is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack and then wrap in foil. 
Enjoy!
*Note: My Grandmother's original recipe called for 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. My husband has a nut allergy so I omit nuts from all my recipes.