Banana Nut Muffins

My mom always used Clara's recipe whenever she made banana bread. It was the perfect density, the right amount of heft and just an all around good banana bread. Somewhere down the road, Jane came across the idea to add a tablespoon of scotch to the mix. It's amazing what just that little amount of scotch can do to elevate that full banana flavor to really wonderful heights.
Now that I've gotten hold of the recipe, I've made an additional adjustment by grinding the nuts to a coarse meal. For a muffin, I prefer that all the textures are homogeneous to give you a better bite across the muffin without obstacles in the way. And considering the density issues common with gluten free breads, I felt the muffin would be a good candidate, so I've also played around with a gluten free version.

Now you don't have any excuse for not making some.



Clara's Banana Bread & Banana Nut Muffins
Makes 1 Loaf -or- 18 Muffins
Ingredients
1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine (if you are using a butter substitute - choose a low water / high fat content substitute)
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
3 Large Ripe Bananas - Mashed
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Scotch
1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 Cup Black Walnuts
Stand Mixer
Spatula
Loaf Pan or Muffin Tins with liners

• Preheat oven to 325
• Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside
• Place the pecans and walnuts in the food processor and grind until they are a coarse meal - set aside
• In a small bowl, mix the bananas, scotch and vanilla extract together - set aside
• In the stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar
• Add the eggs and beat until they are lemony in color and fluffy
• Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat to combine
• Add 1/2 of the Banana Mixture and mix to combine
• Repeat steps with the remaining flour and bananas
• Remove from the  stand mixer and fold in the ground nuts
• Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 1 hour + 10 minutes
• Check the center with a toothpick - if it come out clean, its done.

If you are making muffins -

• Place the liners in the tins and fill each liner with 1/3 Cup batter
• Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted.

Gluten Free Banana Nut Muffins
Makes 15 Muffins
Ingredients
1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine (if you are using a butter substitute - choose a low water / high fat content substitute)
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Cup Sorghum Flour
1/4 Cup Potato Starch
1/4 Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
3 Large Ripe Bananas - Mashed
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Scotch
1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 Cup Black Walnuts
Stand Mixer
Spatula
Loaf Pan or Muffin Tins with liners

• Preheat Oven to 325
• Combine the flours, starch, baking soda, powder and salt in a bowl and set aside
• Place the pecans and walnuts in the food processor and grind until they are a coarse meal - set aside
• In a small bowl, mix the bananas, scotch and vanilla extract together - set aside
• In the stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar
• Add the eggs and beat until they are lemony in color and fluffy
• Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat to combine
• Add 1/2 of the Banana Mixture and mix to combine
• Add the xanthan gum and beat to combine
• Repeat steps with the remaining flour and bananas
• Remove from the  stand mixer and fold in the ground nuts
• Place the liners in the tins and fill each liner with 1/3 Cup batter
• Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted.

Bananas

Posted in: Bread,Comfort Food,Gluten Free,Muffins