First off, thanks for all the thoughtful comments on my post Monday. I normally save emotions like that for my (offline) journal, but for some reason the idea of admitting to the world that I was not perfect seemed like good therapy. And it was. The moment I hit publish I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I’ve been feeling so much brighter ever since. Nothing in my situation changed, only my attitude. (Well to be honest, the sunshine we’ve been having and the fact that after a month long fight with the DMV I finally got my license plates for my car hasn’t hurt either.) It seems appropriate then to share a recipe that’s a little bit lighter, although quite frankly compared to bacon that could be almost anything. In this case it’s a muffin, and not just any muffin, but an incredibly moist, cinnamon-y muffin. The cinnamon flavor comes from some Cinnamon Flav-R Bites that I picked up at the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Store on a trip to Vermont, but you could also use cinnamon chips. With its cake flour base it is certainly not going to win a healthfulness award, but it is great for the times when you might want a lighter (in texture, not calories), moister muffin. It would be great for a mother’s day brunch or to sell as a bake sale item.
Yields 12 muffins
Ingredients:
-1 ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 bananas)
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/4 cup canola oil
-1/4 cup skim milk
-1 large egg
-1 ½ cups cake flour
-1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/2 cup cinnamon Flav-R Bites (or alternatively cinnamon chips)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either line a muffin tin with papers, spray with non-stick cooking spray, or if using fancy pants papers as above, just set them on a baking sheet. In a medium bowl, stir together bananas, sugar, oil, milk and egg. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients, stirring until barely combined. Gently fold in chips or flavr bites–don’t overwork the batter!–and then fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
yum, I love cinnamon chips! You just reminded me that I need to get more this weekend
I love the addition of cinnamon chips to banana muffins, sounds fantastic!
These look so delicious . . . but I’m trying to downsize myself a little, so I’ll have to hold off! Hard for me not to munch on muffins continually if they’re fresh and in the house!
ooh, cinnamon chips! i wonder if king arthur’s have a better ingredient list than hershey’s?
Cinnamon chips, you say? I’m definitely going to have to get a bag of those. The baking possibilities are endless.
Kelly, I WANT THIS MUFFIN. That’s all I have to say
I love love love cinnamon and bananas together in my oats so I’m sure I will love these! Plus I have some seriously ripe bananas in need of using. Score!
Sometimes it’s such a relief to just admit things to other people–makes you feel a lot better that’s for sure–and making these delicious sounding cupcakes can’t hurt either!
Hey dear Kelly,
I just caught up with your last posts, and I just wanted to send a virtual hug to you. I’m glad you told us your struggles, so we can embrace you with our virtual arms of support and comfort. Loneliness…it’s something I experience from time to time, too. I remember when I first moved from Singapore to America, that homesickness and melancholy did not leave until a year later. You’ve only just moved….it’s NATURAL that you should feel this way…if you didn’t you’re not even human! The key thing is that you actually DID it. You took up and moved. That is the true action of courage and strength there, and I know that person is still inside you, to help you preserver through these hard times.
(hugs) and I know that you’ll rebuild a new social community here, for sure!
psst. Sharing those delicious muffins with neighbors will help make friends too! >.<
I really need to get some of those cinnamon chips! These look so tasty and I wish I had one right now!