Going Banana's

It's that time again. Recipe time that is. You ever have a bunch of bananas suddenly go from being green and the next day they are brown and spotty and you have to throw them out cause you don't feel like baking right then? Too much work, too much mess etc. etc... happens to me all the time! Yes, I have tried throwing them in the freezer to use for baking down the road, but I forget about them, and I have baked banana bread using a number of recipes in the past with mixed results...till now. I have this great 1950's recipe book with 1000 recipes in it originated from Mary Margaret McBride, and most of the recipes are quite quick and easy...perfect for a busy housewife. It was while flipping through the cookbook on a recent Sunday while hubby was working away on our kitchen 

( we are in the process of remodeling it; not a great time to get into involved recipes), and I spotted a recipe for banana muffins, and it was quite simple....

Banana Muffins...

1 3/4 sifted all purpose flour

2 tsp. of baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar 

1 egg, well beaten

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup mashed bananas

sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar together. 

combine egg, shortening, and bananas together, add to sifter dry ingredients,

just until blended. Turn into greased muffin pans and bake in a hot (400 degree) oven

for 20-25 minutes...yields 12 medium sized muffins.

If you have been following my blog then you know I can not leave recipes alone, Even when I am looking for simple ones, so below is my take on this very easy and classic banana muffin recipe. 

I like to gather everything together...you will see there is a few things not included in the recipe.

Such as vanilla, pumpkin pie spice,
which is just an easy way of adding a ton of spices
all at once and I switched the white sugar for brown.

I use a lower sodium salt as I have to
be careful in that department. BUT,
 I used the same amount. 

I used lite margarine instead of shortening,
it is in the white bowl already melted in the
first photo.

I also added semi sweet chocolate chips!
1/2 a bag did the trick

You will notice the sugar is not in with the ingredients here,
brown sugar does not sift well, so I added it to the wet.

So here is the sifted dry with the added spice.

I beat my egg first, then added
my brown sugar, my smashed bananas,
and the vanilla and mixed well.....

It looks like a nice rich mix with the addition of the brown sugar

Here is the results once dry and wet are mixed...minus the
chips....

I then added the chips and mixed until
blended well.

I filled the muffin cups 3/4 of the way after spraying with
cooking spray.

I baked for 20  minutes, meanwhile cleaning up my dishes and workspace  and WALA!
Yummy, spiced chocolate chip banana muffins... oh and they are pretty healthy for you too!!! 

Don't they look tasty??

Perfect with a cup of hot vanilla spiced tea on a chilly Autumn morning!!!!