Bananas are a riddle at our house. There are some weeks where I can’t keep enough in the kitchen and other weeks where I’m left with a bunch of brown, overripe fruit that are no longer acceptable for consumption. Anyone else have that problem? If I’m on top of things, I’ll do something about those brown bananas. But if I’m being honest, I will tell you that they usually meet an untimely end in my garbage can. It’s so sad.
Enter banana muffins!
Over the course of lots of years, I have found that my kids eat muffins way better than a slice of bread, so I rarely make banana bread. Instead I’ve converted my favorite banana bread recipe over to a muffin recipe that I love. They are the easiest and best banana muffins that you will ever make!
I also have to pay tribute to good ‘ole Betty Crocker. Without her this would not be possible. This is her recipe that I’ve been using since I moved out of my parents house many moons ago. She’s an oldie, but a goodie and has helped me through many a kitchen conundrums. Bless you, Betty Crocker, for teaching me right!
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 stick margarine or butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup nuts or chocolate chips, optional
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease muffin tins or use muffin liners. (About 24 regular muffins or 48 mini muffins)
- Mix sugar and butter in large bowl.
- Stir in eggs until well blended.
- Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
- Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until just moistened.
- Stir in nuts or chocolate chips, if desired.
- Spoon into muffin tins.
- Bake regular sized muffins for about 12 minutes or until light brown on the edges. Bake mini muffins for 8 minutes or until edges brown.
- Don't have buttermilk? Mix 1 Tbs. of lemon juice to milk. Stir and let sit for ten minutes. Voila!
- I usually do a combination of regular and mini muffins. One dozen large and two dozen small is about perfect!
- If you choose to make bread, use 2 loaf pans and bake for one hour.
That’s It!!
It’s so easy and they are so delicious! My kids burn through an entire batch of these banana muffins in less than twenty four hours. My only other tip for you is this: don’t have time to make the muffins before the bananas reach WAY past their prime? Throw them in the freezer peel and all and pull them out later. They will still work great in this recipe! Happy baking, everyone! 🙂
