Friday, January 16, 2009

How to Make Banana Blueberry Muffins

I know it's been almost a week since Teagan and I actually made our Healthy Banana-Blueberry Muffins. Now you get to find out exactly how we made them! First, get an almost-four year old to put the papers in the muffin tin. This has been Teagan's expertise in the kitchen since she was 2. She's gifted that way. Next, assemble your ingredients and find a cute kid to stand next to them. Ingredients: 1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled) 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled) 1/4 cup wheat germ 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar 2 large eggs 2 ripe bananas, (when mashed, about 3/4 cup) 1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk (I used whole because that's what we buy) 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup frozen blueberries Preheat your oven to 375. Whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugars.
It will look like this.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. In yet another bowl, mash up your banana. I use frozen bananas. Whenever I have banana on the counter that starts getting too brown for the people in my family to eat, I toss it in the freezer. Frozen bananas are great for baking. And for making baby food (sidebar- I made all of the food that both of my babies ate. Neither ever ate a jar of food, at least not from my hands! I didn't set out that way but it ended up being so stinkin' easy that I just kept going with it and suddenly... no more purees, just table food. I think making my own baby food made the transition to table food easier.).
Add your milk and vanilla to the mashed banana.
" With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. "
I forgot to take a picture of the frozen blueberries in the batter. Or even of the batter after all of that alternating of flour and banana mash... so skip right ahead to...
Fold blueberries into batter. (Fold them because they are delicate and if you just stir them, the berries and juices will just take over the batter and everything will be bluish-purple. If you don't know how to "fold," think of it like laying the blueberries on top in a strip and then tucking them into bed for the night. You just ease batter up and over, up and over and the blueberries will incorporate into the batter gently.)
Fill up those muffin cups! The recipe makes 12 so fill them pretty full.
"Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more. "
While waiting for those muffins, try on your big sister's winter coat. You will feel all special and stuff.
YUMMY! MUFFINS!
Look at that blueberry goodness!!
You want to run out and make some right now, don't you??

8 comments:

yodaobi said...

I'd like to do more baking but it's waaay to hot to even cook dinner let alone bake!

Boozy Tooth said...

Those are some bee-yoo-ti-ful muffins, and the kids aren't bad either.

But it still looks too hard. I am not a baker and even though I have a KitchenAid stand mixer too, I'm not sure I ever used it. Kind of like my new bodybugg that's going back to the manufacturer.

Come make muffins at my house, Liz?

Mrs4444 said...

Darn it! Now you make me want to make some more!!

Amy said...

Yoda -- Them's fightin' words considering it's about 7 degrees here righ now!

Garret said...

"You want to run out and make some right now, don't you??"

1- No I want you to make the darn things for me!
2- Why would I have to run out and make them?
3- I don't have a mixer.
4- I want you to make them.
5- I don't have a cute child.
6- Oooops, no frozen bananas in the freezer.
7- I want you to make them.

Garret

Eternal Lizdom said...

It's perfect baking weather here, for sure!

Garret and Alix- the first one to buy airfare for me and my family wins! The prize? Me in your kitchen, making muffins!!

Mrs. 4444- They really are so good... and so filling!

Mary Ellen said...

I can't believe someone said it was too hot to bake. It's 19 below zero here. I think I will make some muffins. I have frozen bananas, but no blueberries. I bet I can use raspberries, which I do have. Thanks for the inspiration!

Boozy Tooth said...

Dare me Liz. Dare me.

I'll be in Dallas soon, then if we can scrape together the dollars, you are MINE. Come with your own apron please.