Migonis Home

A Home and Lifestyle Blog by Jen Migonis

STAY CONNECTED AND GET ALL THE LATEST

in Uncategorized

Banana Muffins… with a secret ingredient

  banana-bread-slider

For years I wanted to be a baker and then as I got into high school my dream evolved into being an interior decorator and then an event planner. And you know… I feel so fortunate to have been able to sort of do all those things. In college I made some good spending money by having my own cookie business. You know, you can make a pretty penny by bringing hot brownies around to the guys’ dorms at night. 🙂
And now, I feel like I’m in my happy place now that the 90 degree weather is over and I feel comfortable being in the kitchen again. This may sound silly to you but I just loved that my mom made homemade cookies and breads for us, I love that she never bought Oreos or processed baked goods. I know that when I share the recipes I create that they aren’t the healthiest, and therefore not meant to be eaten by the truckful, but I know what goes into them and I love that in baking them myself I am able to make the decisions on what kind of ingredients to use (organic vs. non-organic ingredients, cage-free eggs with a vegetarian diet vs. the opposite, unbleached flour vs. enriched… you get the drill).
I want Drew and Elle to grow up knowing how to cook or bake. I want them to enjoy that creating process and I want them to be hospitable people who know that providing food and a place to comfortably eat for someone who needs it is providing a sense of safety for that person. Is a plate of fresh banana muffins going to change someone’s life? Probably not. 🙂 But it sure can make them feel wanted and special. And that, my friends, is why I love to bake. Well… and because I love to eat the creations… 🙂
banana-bread

adapted from here
3/4 cup melted butter or oil (I always use oil)
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6-7 ripe bananas
1 16 ounce container of sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
4.5 cups unbleached flour
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with liners.
  2. Cream butter and sugar.
  3. Add eggs, bananas, sour cream and vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl combine cinnamon, salt, soda and flour. Add to wet mixture.
  5. Pour into muffin tins so they are about 1/2 – 3/4 full.
  6. Bake for about 25 minutes but make sure you test them before pulling them out of the oven for good!
I’ve made this as a bread  (about 1 hour) or in a bundt pan (about an hour to an hour and 10 minutes) too and it’s just as good.

 

Want to read more?

Comments

  2. 1. ADORABLE pic of Drew in the tub!
    2. My recent secret add-ins to my all-time fave banana muffin recipe are a little of both flaxseed meal and chia seeds for a healthy boost. But I LOVE sour cream in anything so I’m going to have to try that. Tomorrow morning. 🙂

  3. This post made me smile 🙂 I have very similar feelings about baking. I too had a mom that felt strongly about cooking and baking for us, and I am proud to say my four kids absolutely love to hang out in the kitchen with me. I adore my time with them, and the fact that they are learning life skills. The older three have learned how to read recipes, multiple and divide fractions when measuring and can all prepare a meal or bake quite well with with little assistance. Although they have never tasted pop tart or twinkie, they don’t really care. I also like to share food with others, and love when they ask to bring extras in their lunch or to soccer practice to share with their buddies. My 13 yr old daughter has similar aspirations to own a bakery someday, I’ll have to share the brownies in the dorm idea with her 🙂

  6. I feel similar to you, Jen, about baking. My mom always had homemade baked goods and desserts. We never had packaged cookies etc. I bake a decent amount,but since I have a husband with a VERY active sweet tooth, I find myself buying oreos etc. to satisfy his munchies. Anyway, I totally hear ya about all the reasons baking is both nestalgic and a way to serve others. My secret ingredient for delicious baked goods is buttermilk.

  7. delicious! the best banana muffins/bread I have ever made, thanks Jen! One note- it would be helpful to include a # of servings with the recipe. I didn’t realized until I was pouring the batter into muffin tins how big of a batch this makes. I got 2 dozen muffins & 2 loaves of banana bread. I was wondering why there were so many bananas but then figured it out once I realized how much it made. 🙂