Experimenting

Let's talk baking.

When I was taking courses for my ESOL endorsement, I took a class about culture. One of our assignments was to bring in a food/dish representing our culture. One woman brought in a recipe for her grandmother's banana bread and I have since then never made my own mom's banana bread recipe because I really liked this classmate's grandma's recipe. I still have the handout she gave us with the recipe. At the top she wrote:

Every time I went to my grandma's house when I was a kid, she had warm banana bread waiting for me. I never knew if she did it just for me, or if she had always made it. It is a memory that I associate with all of our holidays, family dinners, camping trips etc. I remember making it with my grandma and even saving our yucky bananas to take to her house. This is something I make now when I want to think about things from my childhood and wallow in nostalgia (or whenever I have nasty bananas).

And that, my friends, is why I decided to make banana bread (well, muffins actually) tonight.

Nasty bananas.

When the peels start to appear more black than yellow you know you have a situation on your hands.

A situation that requires pulling out a recipe that is crusted with batter and the Kitchen Aid to get some bread or muffins started fast.

Usually I follow the exact recipe, but tonight I decided to experiment with some innovation.

The original recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of sugar. Since I am making these for Baby Sneaker, I wanted to cut down on the amount of sugar, but also add some fat and calories because she is a tiny peanut that can stand to have some hearty grub.

So, I only used 1/2 cup of sugar and added 1/2 cup of full fat Greek yogurt in addition to about 1/2 cup of chunky peanut butter to the mix.

peanut butter and bananas ==> #winning!

My special version looks like this:

Ingredients:
3 or 4 overripe bananas ( I used 2.5 because that's all I had)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used full fat)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 lb (1 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners. Place the bananas and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and "whip the bejesus out of them" for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Add yogurt, peanut butter, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Whip well and scrape down the sides of the bowl before each addition. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, and mix to combine. Pour into prepared muffin cups. Bake until golden brown and firm in the center.

My recipe yielded 15 muffins and I baked them for 20 minutes. I started with 15 minutes then continued for 3 more then a final 2 because I didn't want to overcook them.

yum!

Mr. Sneaker gave a thumbs up and asked for more, so that's a good sign, but the real test will be if Baby Sneaker likes it in the morning. 

I thought the batter tasted a bit salty (I used salted peanut butter) but the cooked muffin doesn't taste too salty. I do think they would be even better with the addition of chocolate chips, but I left those out since these are for Baby Sneaker and I was trying up the health factor and reduce the sugar. The look very plain, so chips would make them look a bit better too. But, the overall taste is pretty good. They are not as moist as the original recipe, but that means they are less sticky and that is not a bad thing considering sticky equates to messy little hands and face. 

Are you a by the book recipe follower or creative innovator when you bake/cook?

Do you have a favorite food memory?