Coco Banana Muffins

For my birthday, my mom gifted me a gift card for Borders. I promptly went out and purchased the new Nigella cookbook. I love Nigella. She has such a Witty and unapologetic way of writing. She sounds as if she is really speaking on the page. I also love her view on cooking. She just seems to role with the flow and laughingly writes about her kitchen mishaps and doesn't take cooking too seriously. I had some bananas that were getting very ripe and I remember seeing this recipe after reading the cookbook cover to cover. It was as delicious as I expected. Moist and flavorful, but not too sweet, just as a muffin should be.

Source: Kitchen Recipes from the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson.

Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas
1/2 c canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 c brown sugar ( I used white)
1.5 c flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
In a large bowl, smash the bananas up, until very soft, add the oil and eggs and sugar, whisking gently.
In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and baking soda.
Gently mix in the dry ingredients with the wet and combine.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners and pour batter in until 2/3 full.
Bake 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from a muffin.
Serves 12

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Every time I have ripe bananas I make banana bread. I usually make Paula Deen's recipe because it is so moist and flavorful, but this time I decided to go outside of the box and try something new. I saw this recipe in my newest edition of Cooking Light Magazine.
What caught my attention was the addition of peanut butter, which is one of my favorite things! Sadly, the bread didn't have much of a peanut butter flavor at all, but it was still moist and delicious. I would make it again especially since it didn't have any oil and very little butter. The recipe also has a glaze that you can make for the top, but I omitted it. I like my banana bread to be more like bread than dessert.
Also, it took longer to cook than what the recipe indicates. I cooked it for about 15minutes extra, but I checked it several times in between to make sure that it didn't burn.


Source: Cooking Light Magazine October 2010
Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients:

Bread:

1.5 c. mashed ripe bananas
1/3 c plain fat-free yogurt
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 c granualated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1.5 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c ground flaxseed
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 tbsp chopped dry-roasted peanuts (I omitted)
Cooking spray

Glaze:

1/3 c powdered sugar
1 tbsp low-fat milk
1 tbsp creamy peanut butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add sugars and beat until blended.
3. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Add flour to banana mixture; beat until just blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9x5" loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 1 hr and 5 minutes pr until a wooden toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool completely.
4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk and peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.