June Recipe Review - Amber

Secret Ingredient Banana Bread Muffins
Click here for the original recipe

My intentions were good. I was very excited to try the June recipe for banana bread because I've been following the same recipe forever but when I realized it called for 6 bananas and I had only reserved 3 bruised and browned ones (I'm so used to the recipe only calling for 3!) I did what any mother would do who had a cute little sous chef looking so excited to make banana bread muffins: I went back to my old recipe.

But WAIT! Before you stop reading let me tell you that my recipe is seriously the most delicious (er, second most delicious) banana bread recipe ever. I'll tell you why: I use two very secret ingredients and I'm about to announce them to the whole world. I hope you try them and love them as much as we do but if you go and open your own store and start selling these I will be really pissed. Just kidding. Sort of. Ok, here's the recipe and a photo of the two secret ingredients. Shhhh....

Amber's Banana Muffins
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3-4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup milk (or buttermilk if you have it)
1 teaspoon Almond Extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips

In case you haven't already figured it out, the secret ingredients are the almond extract (discovered when I was out of vanilla and used almond instead and never went back) and white chocolate chips which create these sweet little buttery melty pockets inside the muffins and we all know how good butter is on banana bread!

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two muffin tins (I like to make these as muffins because they are perfect for kids and easy to grab on the go. Also, they cook faster!) but if you want to use two loaf pans, go for it. Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add mashed bananas, milk and Almond Extract. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Add white chocolate chips. Fill your muffin tins and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until browned on the top. Keep a close eye on them because you don't want them to lose their moisture! Remove from tins while still warm to keep the white chocolate from sticking to the pan.


Here is my favorite little Sous Chef, Ansen, very excited about making banana muffins. They are his favorite!











Here he is again, just because he's so cute. Isn't he so cute?!?!

Done! Yum!













Ansen's Breakfast. Muffin with cheesy scrambled eggs. Is this making anyone else hungry?












Here is Asher enjoying his breakfast. Please take note of his Harvard t-shirt purchased for him by his Auntie Linde who bought it for him when she was there running the Boston Marathon! I try to slide that into every conversation I have lately. I'm so proud of her! Also, doesn't he look very smart? :)