Banana Muffins

I have been making these banana muffins for quite a few years now and they are always a hit. They are very moist, extremely sweet (Nick eats them for dessert), and have a wonderful banana flavor. The original recipe comes with a mascarpone cheese frosting, but I never use it because, well, #1 – that seems more cupcake-ish than muffin-ish, and #2 – I think they are definitely good enough without it. Nick has actually told me that he thinks this batter would make for a wonderful banana cake. If any of you have some tips on how to convert this recipe to a cake, I’d love to hear it! I’m not very good at that sort of thing yet 😉

I typically make a batch of these and wrap them individually and freeze them. When we want one we just pop it in the microwave. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do 🙂

(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed

Directions:
Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins may be eaten warm or cooled completely and frosted.