Friday, February 19, 2010

Crunchy Banana Muffins with Coconut

I love this muffin recipe. You can make a batch and they stay fresh in the fridge for a week or so ready for a grab and go breakfast on your way out the door. They also freeze beautifully.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled plus 1/2 cup applesauce  OR 1 cup melted butter                                    
3 bananas- mash 2 with a fork and dice one
1 cup chopped pecans (you can also use walnuts or almonds)
1 cup granola- any kind is fine
1 cup shredded coconut plus 1/4 cup shredded coconut to top muffins with before baking.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
  • Melt 1/2 cup of butter and set aside to cool. (or 1 cup if you are skipping the applesauce)
  • Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
  • In a medium size bowl stir together your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 
  • Mash 2 bananas with a fork and chop the remaining banana
              
  • In a separate bowl whisk the eggs lightly then add the remaining wet ingredients: milk, vanilla, melted butter, apple sauce, and the mashed bananas- save the diced banana for just one more step. 
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. There will be a few lumps. 

  • Fold in the diced banana, granola, nuts, and 1 cup of the coconut. 





  • Scoop into the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle the top with the remaining coconut.
  • Bake 20 to 25 minutes in your preheated oven, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Makes 24 muffins

Monday, February 08, 2010

Dutch Babies, Humps and Hills, German Oven Pancake Recipe

Call them whatever you like but they are simple to make and taste delicious. We've always called them Humps and Hills because our neighbors in Houston, The Parcell's, who introduced us to this recipe, called them that. Kids love them because they look so fun!
Oven Pancakes in oven
Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe!
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 TBS sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 to 4 TBS unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Place a 9x13" pam into your oven on the middle rack.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the pan inside
Mix all the ingredients together until really smooth. You can do this in a blender or in a small mixing bowl with a hand mixer. The batter is thinner than a regular pancake batter, it's more like a crepe batter.
Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Grease the bottom but not the sides of the pan and Pour the batter in. Place it back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Now- don't start checking it after 10 minutes. It will LOOK done after about 10 minutes but it will still be flat and not puffy- PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND STEP AWAY FROM THE OVEN! Leave it shut and let it do it's thing! OK, you can watch through the window if you promise not to open it!  When the buzzer rings, take out the beautiful puffy goodness and serve immediately. It will start to fall so you want everyone sitting at the table waiting.
Serve it with any or all of the following. Sprinkled with some lemon juice and powdered sugar, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, plain old syrup or with fresh fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.
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