Banana Nut Muffins

I’ll say it again, I hate baking. I really do. It requires too much time and energy for things not to go as planned. I recently got my hands on a food scale and it changed my life. Not only are my recipes more consistent but I no longer need dozens of measuring cups, I can just zero the scale! If there’s one thing about baking that everyone should know, it’s ratios. Ratio’s grant flexibility, in which once a batter’s ratios are met, the flavors, add-ons, and toppings are all up to the baker. Banana bread is a quickbread, meaning it rises like a bread thanks to the baking powder, but there’s no yeast nor any proofing periods; everything happens in the oven, in one go. Quickbreads are often cake-like but have the capability to take on savory flavors (cornbread is a good example of a savory quickbread). Muffins are quickbreads just in smaller form so they use the same ratios. Anyways, the baking ratio for quickbreads is 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: 1 part butter/oil. Keep that in mind! The beauty of ratios is that once you have the basics down, you have the freedom to entirely customize your recipe. At the bottome of thise one there’s cinnamon, vanilla, and walnuts; these are all optional add-ins. Don’t like vanilla extract? Omit it all together and use almond extract instead and replace the walnuts with almonds. These muffins are super easy and make the perfect sunday breakfast 🙂

WHAT YOU NEED

MAKES APPROX 15 MUFFINS

10 oz overly ripe bananas mashed
2 large eggs
8 oz milk (any milk works)
3 oz melted butter (again any kind works, neutral oil works too)
1 oz vanilla yogurt (any kind works)
4 oz light brown sugar
1.5 tsp salt
5 oz all-purpose flour (any kind works, for my GF folks I like bob’s red mill)
3 oz oats
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chunks (optional)

LETS GET STARTED

All you need to do is combine your ingredients in the order they’re listed above!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mash 10oz of ripe bananas. Mix in 2 large eggs (should equal about 4oz) and the milk. Stir in 3 oz of melted butter, then add 1oz of vanilla yogurt. Mix in 4oz light brown sugar and 1.5 tsp salt. Fold in 5oz of all purpose flour (any kind works, adjust to your needs), and mix in 3oz of oats once combined. Stir in 4 tsp baking powder. Then add 4 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup chopped walnuts (or chocolate chips). Grease two muffin tins and dust flour on top. Poor batter into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.