Blueberry Banana Muffins

Good morning!  These are by far my favorite muffins of all time, and the recipe comes from The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  I've tried all kinds of combinations:  strawberry/banana, strawberry/blueberry/banana, strawberry/rhubarb, etc., and while they've all been good, the blueberry banana are my (and Will's) favorite.  The banana adds a little bit of flavor but most importantly, it keeps the muffins from drying out.  If you don't like bananas, you can leave them out, but use 3/4 cup of milk instead of 1/2. 

Also important to note, when you put the batter in the muffin cups, you seriously have to spoon it.  The batter is super lumpy so there's no hope of pouring. When I made these yesterday morning, I tried making them in paper liners so I wouldn't have to clean the pan (confession:  I hate cleaning the muffin pan and will often leave it in the sink until dinner in hopes that Will will clean it when he does the dinner dishes).  But they were much more dense - not as light and fluffy as they normally are.  Maybe I didn't let them sit long enough after getting them out of the oven.  Regardless, I will probably suck it up and just clean the pan from now on (or leave it for Will) because they weren't quite as good as they have been without the liners.  You can try them both ways and judge for yourself.

And lastly, if your oven runs hot like mine, these bake up in 13-15 minutes (the recipe says 18-20).  That's just enough time to clean the two mixing bowls and throw everything else in the dishwasher.  I don't do much baking because I don't like cleaning up all the mixing bowls and measuring cups and measuring spoons, but by the time you get everything put away and wipe up the flour you inevitably spilled on the counter, the muffins are ready and calling your name.  Perfect.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 bananas
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Make a well in the center and set aside.
3. In another bowl, mash bananas, and then add egg, milk, and oil and mix.  Add banana mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir. 

4. Stir in blueberries.

5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 18-20 minutes (or if your oven runs hot like mine, 13-15 minutes).

Good by themselves, but I prefer to slather mine with  generous amounts of butter.  Enjoy!

-chelsey