Banana Nut Muffins

Banana Nut Muffins are the kind of thing that are not planned, but just happen. You don't just always have over ripe bananas around; the timing has to be right. While the window is not quite as short as it is for avocados, wait a day too long and those bananas are goners.

To my surprise, I hadn't actually posted these before. Yes, I've done Buttermilk Banana Nut Bread & Banana Cupcakes & Hummingbird Cake but nope, no banana nut muffins. It's time for you to shine, little dudes.

I saw the spotted bananas on the counter and decided I was long overdue for some muffins. I mean, can you look at old bananas and not think of a banana baked good of some sort? They're not a terribly hard task, and can bring a lightly sweet treat to breakfast. Because let's face it; muffins are the cupcakes of breakfast.

It all started smashingly, and I mean that literally. I mashed the bananas in a bowl using a fork, then mixed in the eggs and sugar. I wondered to myself if the eggs could be swapped for more bananas; in the past, I've swapped an egg for a banana 1:1 in baked goods. But I stuck with the original plan and kept the eggs involved.

I put walnuts in half the batter because I can't make my mind up about anything. And in my usual stubborn fashion, I scaled back the sugar about 30%. I will say that I hit a roadblock with this in a recent Pumpkin Muffins recipe. I tried to shave the sugar back *way* too much and wound up with some rather vegetable-y. There is a balance, and there is such a thing as too little sugar.

But, that was not the case here!

After baking for about 25 minutes, I had lovely little muffins.

They turned out a rather pretty golden brown.

Pretty and moist and delightful are all ideal adjectives here.

The new kitchen makes photos fun, too. I've got a softbox on one sound and am bouncing light on the other to light these little nude cupcakes. All of this was shot with a 50mm lens because f1.8 is a lifestyle.

Breakfast, snack, dessert...whatever.

The ideal muffin is easy to put together, is soft but holds together, and has enough density to be filling. These hit all the right marks. making them shareworthy.

Banana Nut Muffins Recipe

Ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas

3/4 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted butter

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger (optional)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

3/4 cups chopped walnuts

Instructions:

Use a fork to mash bananas in a medium bowl. Mix in sugar, then egg. Stir in oil. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spoon into a pan lined with cupcake papers, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick poked in the center of one comes out clean.

adapted from best ever banana nut muffins