The Conservative Cave

Interests => All Things Edible (and how to prepare them) => Recipes => Topic started by: Thor on May 15, 2011, 10:40:06 PM

Title: Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins
Post by: Thor on May 15, 2011, 10:40:06 PM
I stole Tyler Florence's recipe and changed it up just a skoshe. They turned out wonderful. The two problems I had is that they didn't rise very well, so they were kind of dense, but very moist. I used the Texas sized muffin pan. Inga said they were the best she's ever tasted.

Ingredients (I had to 1.5 times this recipe because I had six fairly large bananas)

    2 cups all-purpose flour
    1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    4 overripe bananas
    1 cup brown sugar
    3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I only used two sticks of butter, even at 1.5 time that I should have used. I think I could have cut back a bit from that)
    2 eggs
    1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used closer to two teaspoons of vanilla & NOT the extract!!)
    1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I used walnuts because I prefer walnuts in these.) I also added about a cup and a half of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins. (I used a non-stick muffin pan, so no butter needed in the pan. They popped right out.)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. (Halfway full took exactly 19 mins in MY oven. Since those didn't rise very well, I filled them almost full, those took another 5-6 mins) Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.


All in all, they made 13 Texas sized muffins with the additional ingredients. They came out just simply delicious!!
Title: Re: Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins
Post by: Boudicca on May 15, 2011, 10:57:39 PM
Oh my, Thor  :hammer: to you.  I'm still gearing up for Day One of The Rest of My Life on a Diet and these kinds of post do nothing to help me get started. :bawl:

OTOH, there's always tomorrow, at which time I do believe I may whip up a batch of these muffins.  Having the ingredients to hand, so to speak. :rotf:
Title: Re: Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins
Post by: Thor on May 16, 2011, 06:20:07 AM
Nobody said that you have to eat three or four at a time, but you may want to!! Cut the butter down and you have some fairly decent nutrition....... :tongue:
Title: Re: Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins
Post by: Chris_ on May 16, 2011, 08:16:11 AM
I saw this recipe for banana bread on America's Test Kitchen (the TV show from Cooks Illustrated).  It looked really good.  

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=25349
Quote
Recipes for ultimate banana bread abound, but because they include an overload of bananas for flavor, the bread’s texture is often soggy. We wanted a moist, not mushy, loaf that tasted of banana through and through.

To impart lots of banana flavor, we needed to use a generous amount of bananas, but we needed to rid them of excess moisture. We turned to the microwave to help us out. We piled as many bananas in a bowl as we dared and zapped them in the microwave. Then we drained the now-pulpy fruit and mixed the fruit into a batter. We didn’t want to toss the flavorful liquid, so we reduced it and added it into the batter as well. Like a mock extract, our reduction infused the bread with ripe, intensely fruity banana flavor.

With the flavor problem solved, a few minor tweaks completed the recipe: We exchanged the granulated sugar for light brown sugar, finding that the latter’s molasses notes better complemented the bananas. Swapping out the oil for the nutty richness of butter improved the loaf further. We also added toasted walnuts to the batter, finding that their crunch provided a pleasing contrast to the rich, moist crumb. Wondering if the crust might benefit from a little embellishment, we sliced a banana and shingled it on top of the batter. A final sprinkle of sugar helped the buttery slices caramelize and gave this deeply flavored loaf an enticingly crisp, crunchy top.
Title: Re: Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins
Post by: Thor on May 16, 2011, 04:43:15 PM
The muffins I made weren't the least bit soggy.......