Banana Zucchini Muffins

I love freckles on kids, but not so much on bananas ...unless I'm in the mood for banana bread. For eating out of hand ...or sliced on yogurt or cereal ...or cut up in a fruit salad, I absolutely require frecklefree bananas that are still firm and faintly green. Picky, picky, I know. Soft bananas with brown spots are peeled and dispatched to the freezer, waiting to join the party in a blender for a morning smoothie, or maybe turn into The Best? Banana Bread from a recipe found online at epicurious. 

Our recent spurt of hot weather hurried three small bananas along on a rapid ripening journey from almost-ready to oops! soft-and-spotted status. Three small bananas aren't sufficient for a full loaf of banana bread and the freezer already held an ample supply of frozen over-ripe fruit, so today I opted to make muffins, adapting the Zucchini Banana Bread recipe found at Two Peas and Their Pod. The basic recipe is quite tasty, but why stop there? You can produce amazingly different muffins, depending on which optional add-ins or flavorings you select.  

Go for it! Have fun and play around with the recipe. Sometimes those full-flavored, soft and spotted bananas are a good thing.

Banana Zucchini Muffins

adapted from a recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod
yield: 12 muffins

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups AP flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
3 small, very ripe bananas (2 mashed smooth, 1 in small chunks)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup loosely-packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed dry in paper towel or tea towel

Optional Add-ins & Flavorings
Finely chopped nuts
Dried fruit (currants, sultanas)
Coconut shreds or flakes
Orange or lime zest
Powdered or freshly grated ginger

Muffin liners
Muffin pan

Directions

1. Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with liners or grease each cup. 
2. Sift or whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. Add the wet ingredients to a large bowl; stir to combine, being careful to keep the banana chunks intact.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture; fold gently with a rubber spatula until flour is incorporated. Add any optional items if using.
5. Use a scoop or ladle to fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Place in oven and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 
6. Cool on a wire baking rack.

  

The Best? Banana Bread

The Best? really? Well, the food department at Epicurious thinks so. The cooks began with a handful of tried-and-true recipes; they tested, tasted, adjusted, retested, ... and kept at it until this revision emerged as the test kitchen favorite, their so-called "frankenrecipe". What?? Weird label, but intriguing nonetheless. I'll admit, I was curious to see what the fuss was all about. Banana bread has been around for eons, what could possibly set this recipe apart?


The Epi kitchen noted four changes that seemingly made all the difference between good banana breads and "The Best".

1. Sour cream replaced one recipe's mascarpone for a hint of tangy flavor and extra moistness. (Mascarpone is too pricey an ingredient to casually toss into any ordinary quick bread, so I like this sour cream swap out.)
2. Dark brown sugar, rather than the usual white granulated variety, brought extra richness to the mix.
3. Four ripe, really ripe bananas guaranteed maximum banana flavor.
4. Walnuts added some essential nutty crunch to each bite. The tasters were evenly split over adding chocolate bits, but nuts alone made the final cut.

These four elements are not earth-shaking revelations, but together they did produce a tasty loaf. Moist but not soggy in the middle, each bite or slice held together nicely on the fork or in the fingers. The essential banananess was taste forward, in a good way, and brown sugar provided hints of molasses without overpowering the flavor. 

Was this loaf "The Best"? Who cares? My five kitchen tasters agreed that it was damned delicious and the entire loaf disappeared in less than 24 hours. I'll use this recipe again; it was worth messing around with three separate mixing bowls. 

The Best? Banana Bread

recipe from epicurious.com

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature (plus more for pan)

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for pan)

4 medium very ripe bananas (about 13 oz), peeled and mashed

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup dark brown sugar, (packed)

2 large eggs (room temperature)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped, toasted walnuts

Special equipment:
A 9x5" loaf pan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan with butter and dust with flour, tapping out any excess. (The paper wrapper from the cube of butter works well for this.)

Combine banana, sour cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed in yet another large bowl until light and fluffy, it will take several minutes. 

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat on medium speed until fully combined, about a minute each. Add the banana mixture and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds.

 Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, beating on low after each addition, scraping down the sides of bowl if necessary, until fully incorporated. Use a spatula to fold in the walnuts. 

Transfer the mixed batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake, rotating halfway through, until the batter is set, the top is a dark golden brown and starting to crack, the sides start to pull away from pan, about 60–65 minutes. Use a tester inserted into center of bread to check for doneness; bake until it comes out clean. (My oven must run cool, it took 72 minutes.) 

Remove to a wire rack and cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edge of the pan to loosen, then tap pan gently on its side until the loaf releases. Let cool completely on a plate or cutting board before slicing.

Going Bananas! with a sweet banana topping over chocolate banana faux ice cream

It's Secret Recipe Club time again; time to reveal Shelley of C Mom Cook as my assigned blogger for October and feature a recipe (or two) from her blog. With SRC membership around 150, it's always exciting to see which blog is mine for the month, a familiar site or one totally new-to-me. I was pleased to be assigned C Mom Cook, I know this blog from Shelley's participation in so many other food challenges (SourdoughSurprises, DaringBakers, DaringCooks, BreadBakingDay, TwelveLoaves and of course SRC). As the mother of two active children I've often wondered where she finds the time to be such an adventurous cook?! Shelley notes in her blog:

"I love food and almost everything involved with it - preparing it, eating it, sharing it. I am a stay at home mom to two wonderful children and it is my goal to share this love of food and the appreciation of the process with them as they grow... I love to try new recipes and learn new things, and to impart my love of fresh, homemade foods to my family."

Check out her blog, you're sure to find more than one recipe to tempt you. I bookmarked several savory recipes, but my recent experience with cardamom ice cream drew me to a dessert, Chocolate Banana Faux Ice Cream. What's better than a bowl of ice cream? that's easy, ice cream with a topping. Pan-Fried Cinnamon Sugar Bananas, a riff on Bananas Foster, joined the party. I couldn't resist the temptation to add a boozy finish with a hint of orange zest, just for fun. 

Why the additions? The Flavor Bible, a data-packed reference book by Page & Dornenburg, suggests cinnamon, sugar, rum and oranges as good flavor pairings with bananas. After hearing the author's presentation at #IFBC 2014, I reserved their book at the local library. Now I'm having fun playing with new flavor combinations and tweaking recipes, sweet banana topping and chocolate banana ice cream included.

The taste test got off to a rocky start - really rocky. The frozen dessert was as hard as a rock and could not be scooped, even with a heated metal scooper, until it sat out on the counter for 4 or 5 minutes. The faux ice cream had a slightly grainy texture, freezer induced I suppose since the mix came out of the blender quite stiff but silky smooth. The not-too-sweet frozen chocolate, banana and orange blend was pleasant enough, but served by itself was not a huge hit. No one wanted a second sample. Fast forward to another serving topped with the warm and buttery, brown sugar coated bananas and my taste testers were happier. After the topping was finished with a flambé of rum and a sprinkle of fresh orange zest, voila! magic happened. That topping would make even cardboard taste good - just saying.   
  

Topping a la Bananas Foster 

adapted from C Mom Cook

2 ripe but still firm large bananas, cut into 1/2" coins
4 ounces butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ounces dark rum (optional)
freshly grated orange zest (optional)

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the sugar and cinnamon and stir together until the sugar melts. Add the banana rounds and cook over medium-high heat until warmed and lightly caramelized on both sides, flipping only once so the bananas don't fall apart.

Optional finish: remove the pan from the heat and drizzle in the rum. Return pan to the heat and ignite with a lighter or very long match. Stand back and flambé the bananas, but watch out for the flame. Let the flame die down while the alcohol cooks out, usually 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with the optional grated orange zest. 

Serve over ice cream... or crepes, waffles or a slice of cake.

Chocolate-Banana Faux "Ice Cream"

adapted from C Mom Cook

4 very ripe large bananas, sliced into thick rounds &amp
8 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons honey 
1/4 teaspoon orange extract

Place the banana rounds, cocoa powder, honey and orange extract in a blender. Blend until totally lump-free. It may take a while, but keep whirring and scraping down the sides until the mix is very smooth.
Pour into an airtight, freezer-safe container; cover and freeze until firm, usually 1-2 hours.
Note: my freezer froze it rock hard overnight, initially too hard to scoop until it sat out on the counter for several minutes.

An InLinkz Link-up

SKOR! Banana Nut Cookies

What do you do with bananas that are overly ripe? You know, the ones spotted with freckles that are too soft to enjoy solo. Do you make banana bread? or peel and freeze them to use in a morning smoothie? Well stop the presses, here's another idea to consider. Bake some banana bread cookies. These chunky little treats are soft cookies that mimic the taste of a really good banana bread.

An old recipe for banana chocolate chip cookies was my starting point, but crunchy toffee & nut Skor Chipits seemed a better textural match for the soft, mashed banana than any melted chocolate could be. 

Hmmmm, I had my doubts when the first cookies came out of the oven. They looked like lumpy chocolate chip imitations, though the galley was filled with the tantalizing aroma of banana bread. Just one bite banished any lingering concerns about appearance; these cookies were tasty. 

Crisp edges and soft interiors were a popular combination with today's dockside taste-testers. The guys gave them two thumbs up, remarking on the flavor and approving the soft texture. (Thanks Peter & Larry)

The original online recipe stated the cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 2 days. What?! there is no way we're going to eat 3 dozen cookies in 2 days, so I'll test this statement and report back.

Update: on day 3 the cookies had dried some, their middles now chewy instead of fluffy, making them seem even more like banana bread. I enjoy chewy and crispy cookies, but time added a heavier, more dense factor to the texture that was not an improvement. Martha had it right, eat within two days or plan to freeze the excess.

SKOR! Banana Nut Cookies

based on a 2006 Martha Stewart recipe

Yield: 3 to 3.5 dozen
  
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon caramel extract (or more vanilla)
1/2 cup mashed very ripe banana
1 cup Quick rolled oats
1 cup Hershey's SKOR Chipits (toffee & nut chips)
1/2 cup nuts, toasted & rough chopped (almonds, walnuts, pecans, or...)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
2. In a small bowl sift together the flours, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a larger bowl mix together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (a stand mixer makes this step easy). 
4. Add the egg and extracts and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined.
5. Add the mashed banana and mix to incorporate.
6. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined and the flour disappears.
7. Add the rolled oats, toffee pieces and nuts.
8. Use 2 teaspoons to form dough balls and place on the lined cookie sheets spaced 2 inches apart. (I fit 15 cookies per sheet.)
9. Bake on the middle rack of a 375 preheated oven for approximately 12 minutes, rotating the sheets once, until golden brown and just firming up.
10. Remove from the oven and place the sheet on a baking rack for 5 minutes, giving the cookies time to set up properly. (Rush them and they will might wrinkle and fall apart.)
11. Use a wide wire spatula to move the cookies from baking sheet to wire baking racks. Let the cookies cool completely before stacking or storing.