Banana pecan muffins

I believe there are fewer issues more divisive than whether you like nuts in your food.  Allergies aside, people have very strong feelings about nuts versus no nuts.  I'm firmly in favor of nuts in everything and I don't care who knows it!  Dave, on the other hand, is less fond of them.  He didn't seem to mind the pecans in these muffins so I call that a win.

I bought a bunch of bananas intending to make smoothies but then I got lazy during the week and the bananas were turning that lovely shade that signifies they should be baked with rather than eaten plain.  I like my bananas slightly underripe so the thought of an overly ripe banana as a snack is slightly upsetting.

These muffins were tasty and only slightly adapted from Tyler Florence's recipe.  I made half a batch and they fit perfectly in my mini muffin pan.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 overripe bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 sticks butter melted and cooled
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat your oven to 375 and spray the ish out of your muffin pan with cooking spray.

Mash your bananas and combine with sugar.  Beat vigorously until well combined.  Add the butter, egg and vanilla and beat again.  Mix in flour, baking soda and salt until just combined.  Fold in the nuts with a spatula.  Scoop your batter into muffin cups and bake for 12ish minutes, until golden brown.

Adapted from Tyler Florence's Banana Nut Muffins

Chocolate-swirled Banana Bread

I have a bi-monthly meeting with some colleagues that I always look forward to.  I decided that I wanted to bring a baked treat for them this week and as I looked around the kitchen, I noticed a couple of ripe bananas.  I like my bananas a little bit green so I sometimes have a hard time deciding when they're ripe enough to bake with but I hit the sweet spot with this recipe.  The bread comes out super moist and delicious and the chocolate swirl adds a little extra oomph.  I highly recommend it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp cocoa-almond spread
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp coconut oil
2 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup vanilla yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a loaf pan with Pam.
Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Put the cocoa spread and 1 tsp of coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds.  Stir to combine.  It didn't look like it was going to come together but if you keep stirring, it will magically blend.
Mix the remaining coconut oil, canola oil, butter and brown sugar together.  Stir in the bananas.  Mix the eggs in one at a time, blending completely each time.  Mix in vanilla extract. Add yogurt and half the flour mix and stir well.  Mix in the rest of the flour blend, only until it's just incorporated.
Pour half the batter into the loaf pan.  Pour in all the chocolate mix and spread gently to ensure full coverage. Pour the rest of the batter on top and use a chopstick to swirl.
Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen