Banana Muffins and Honey Bananas Topping

07.10.2006 Helene Dujardin (Senior Editor) 8 Comments

These little things are really not supposed to be muffins but rather banana bread. Anybody who knows me also knows that I love things that should not be what they are intented to be. I like to twist and divert, although never to the point of creating a diplomatic incident!

I have made this recipe so many times to use up over ripe bananas that I don’t need to open the cookbook anymore. I thought that for the sole purpose of practicing my photography, the batter could be turned into little cakes and decorated for a nice photo shoot.

I also have to confess that with my family still visiting, my recipes have to remain simple and easy to assemble because we do a lot of sightseeing and shopping. However, I would not want to make you miss your weekly episode of the "Banana Post"!This original recipe comes from Cooking Light and is quite easy and light, but full of flavor. I adapted it by adding some rum and replacing the milk with buttermilk. I sometimes add nuts or coconut, sometimes mini chocolate chips.

Banana Bread and Honey Banana Topping, adapted from Cooking Light:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light butter, softened
1 2/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and spray with cooking spray.
Combine sugar and butter in a bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add banana, milk, sour cream, and egg whites; beat well, and set aside.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stir well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, beating until blended.
Divide evenly among the muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.

For the Honey Banana Topping:
Slice 3 bananas. Melt 1 TB butter in a large saute pan and saute the bananas until they start to get some color. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of good honey. Remove the bananas and let the honey reduce some. Divide the banana slices on top of the muffins and drizzle with the honey.

I probably won’t be around much this weekend as we are going down to Savannah to play tourists and stroll around town. No visit planned to see Paula Deen, but I am definetely going by the Back In The Day Bakery to see Cheryl. Yeah!!