We have no bananas today

I made banana muffins today for the first time in a long time. Muffins get made when we have spotty nanas, the super sweet freckled ones. In our local banana republic we eat bananas the minute they are ripe, and sometimes a day earlier. We've been on a banana kick lately, consuming them as soon as they come into the house. And so, no muffins.

I am a big fan of the banana and most of its kinfolk. In fact the only banana I ever met that I disliked was the Runts banana.  A box of Runts has way too many bananas in it, contributing to the candy's poor scores in public recognition and approval. But we were talking about the muffins...

Oh! One more thing. I heard this very interesting/slightly alarmist report on NPR about how the global supply of bananas could go kaput in the not-too-distant future. The reason: some kind of a banana-eating disease is lumbering through Southeast Asia and Australia snacking on the very type of bananas - Cavendish - that are imported to the rest of the world. I was probably supposed to get all fired up over this news, but I'm going to take sides with science and capitalism here. Bananas are the #1 selling fruit in the US. Someone will figure out something to meet that demand.

Back to the muffins. I used to make these with whole wheat flour but they were just not as light or scrumptious. Now I use a combination of organic all purpose flour and wheat germ. Here's that recipe:

Banana Muffins
Print recipe only here

Makes one dozen muffins

INGREDIENTS
3 bananas
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1/4 c wheat germ
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup toasted pecans

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 (or 300 convection). Lightly spray a muffin tin with baking release. If you plan to add pecans, toast them in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes, then cool.

In a medium to large mixing bowl (or bowl of stand mixer) mash the bananas. Add yogurt, eggs, sugar, oil and extract and mix well to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. Whisk well to combine. Add to the wet ingredients and mix gently until just combined. Roughly chop the pecans and add them to the batter.

Scoop into the prepared muffin tins and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the sides of the muffins pull away from the pan, the tops are golden and firm. Cool slightly. Store in a covered container at room temperature.

Further nonsense: Go Bananas!