Muffins!

I'm not a big baker, but when I noticed the overripe bananas on my counter last weekend and then also remembered that I had a bunch of blueberries waiting in the freezer, I decided that it was time to make muffins! I enjoyed both of these recipes, but my husband thought the lemon flavor in the blueberry muffins was too overpowering (well they ARE called lemon-blueberry muffins...). The banana nut muffins were definitely a home-run and I'm planning to make them again for a brunch birthday party for my grandfather in a couple weeks.



Banana Nut Muffins
Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence, FoodTV.com

Ingredients...

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 overripe bananas
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped **I used walnuts

Directions...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. **I didn't have an electric mixer, so I hand whisked and it seemed to work just fine** Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
Recipe courtesy of Liz's Cooking Blog who snagged the recipe from Food and Wine

Ingredients...

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions...

Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the blueberries. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, oil and lemon zest, then whisk in the lemon juice. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture until blended; do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins stand in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Summery Goodness

I brought this dessert to my sister-in-law's graduation this past weekend and it seemed to be a big hit! I knew I wanted to make a trifle, but couldn't seem to find a recipe that sounded delicious but didn't take all day. I ended up studying a few recipes and coming up with my own.

Lemon Berry Trifle

Ingredients...

1 lb strawberries, sliced
1 pint blueberries
1 T sugar
juice from one lemon
1 8 oz container cool-whip
1 package instant lemon pudding
2 cups milk
8 oz sour cream
1 store-bought angel food cake, cut into cubes

Directions...

Combine strawberries, blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside. Prepare pudding according to package directions. In a separate bowl, fold pudding and sour cream into cool-whip. In a large bowl (ideally, glass, but anything big enough and pretty enough to serve out of) place one layer of angel food cake cubes, top with 1/3 of berry mixture, then add 1/3 cool-whip mixture. Layer ingredients two more times, topping with cool-whip mixture. Reserve a few berries to decorate the top - especially if you don't have a glass bowl so people can kind of tell what's inside. Chill until ready to serve (at least 30 minutes).