Bananas Foster Muffin Recipe

The first time I experienced Bananas Foster was while I was a State FFA Officer. I had always heard of it but had never had it before. Bananas Foster really is not a very popular dessert for most 18 year olds, go figure. During our State Officer year we had to live on the Oregon State Fairgrounds for almost three weeks in August, in an old, concrete dorm room building with creaky metal bunk beds that I am pretty sure came from the Salem Insane Asylum. Hello, One Flew Over the Cuckcoo's Nest. By the end of the three weeks I was feeling a bit cuckoo myself.

Thankfully we did not have to eat fair food or take out while we were there and had access to a kitchen. One night one of the chaperons made us bananas foster for dessert. It seemed like such a treat to have after a long day. Ever since that encounter I have been hooked on this dessert. 

If you have never had it before, it is bananas sauteed in butter and brown sugar, creating a rich caramelly sauce and then to top it off, rum is added and then lit on fire to burn off the alcohol. The sauce and bananas is then poured over vanilla ice cream, so good!

I decided to try my hand at turning this dessert into a banana muffin and was super happy with the way they came out! These muffins have a slightly crunchy outside, from the caramel sauce and a cooked banana flavor, instead of the harsh raw banana flavor you can sometimes get with other banana breads. They are my favorite right out of the oven, like most muffins and the best part is, you do not have to wait until you have brown bananas to make them!

Bananas Foster Muffins

Makes 1 Dozen

3 bananas

1/2 c. butter (1 stick)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp. rum

1/3 c. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 2/3 c. flour

1/3 c. instant oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Warm saute pan over medium high heat. Peel and dice bananas and melt butter in saute pan. Add bananas to pan and saute for one minute. Add in brown and white sugars and cook until a caramel sauce begins to form, approximately 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool.

Add mixture into a bowl once cooled and then mash all together. Add rum, eggs and milk. Mix thoroughly. Gently add in sifted dry ingredients, making sure to not over mix. Line muffin tins with liners and fill three quarters full with mix. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. 

No need for super ripe yucky bananas in this recipe1

Chop, chop, chop!

Does anyone else love the smell of melting butter as much as me??

Saute the bananas in the melted butter.

Add in brown and white sugars.

You don't want to let the sugars get quite to the caramel stage, just before it.

Let cool and then mash it all together.

Add the wet ingredients and make yourself a cocktail. If you do not drink or do not own rum, you can use rum extract.

Next the dry ingredients...

Trust me on the oats.

I sprayed the top of my pan too just in case there was any muffin overage.

Voila!

Enjoy with coffee or a mimosa!! Or both!

The Best Waffle You Will Ever Eat

A week or so ago I mentioned on, "Things I'm Loving Thursday," liege waffles. I also mentioned sharing a recipe for them. After mixing, combining and changing a couple different recipes I have found on the internets I finally came up with the perfect flavor combination. The outside is crispy, the inside chewy, with yeasty and sugary flavors, sprinkled with pockets of caramelized sugar. It is not suggested that you put butter and syrup on these like you do buttermilk waffles, they are delicious just on their own. When I made them last, we had them as dessert instead and topped with vanilla ice cream. Whenever you choose to eat them, I have no doubt you will love them! Let me know what you think!!

Liege/Street Waffles

1 pkg. yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1/3 c. warm milk
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
3 eggs
1 c. melted butter
1 c. pearl sugar (or smashed sugar cubes if you cannot find it)

Place brown sugar and 1 package of yeast into warm milk. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate. In a mixing bowl sift together flour and salt. Once yeast has activated stir into flour mixture on medium speed. Next mix in eggs, on at a time, on medium speed alternating with melted butter. Add vanilla. 

Cover and let dough double. You can also cover and place in the refrigerator overnight and then cook in the morning, do not add sugar. 

While your dough is proofing, if you were not able to find pearl sugar you can make your own by placing sugar cubes in a ziplock bag and smashing them with a rolling pin. You want small chunks of sugar. I like to think of making them into chunks the size of diamonds or crystals but that's just me. Once dough is doubled, gently stir in the sugar. 

Heat your waffle iron on high heat, then take around two tablespoons (an ice cream scoop works perfect) and put into the center of the sprayed iron. Let cook for five minutes or until the outside is crispy and browned. 

BE VERY CAREFUL when you take them off the iron and DO NOT eat them immediately. They are SUPER HOT and will burn your precious hands and mouth. Let cool and then enjoy! 

If you have never used yeast, don't let it scare you! This is how it looks once it gets activated.

Mix together the flour and salt.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture so they are one happy family.

Alternated between golden deliciousness and eggs.

3 eggs to be exact.

I like to use vanilla bean paste sometimes instead to add pretty speckles of vanilla bean.

The mixture should be the consistency of runny bread dough.

A warm window is always a good spot to let dough rise.

If you cannot find pearl sugar, sugar cubes will do.

Sugared diamonds.

Gently fold the crystals in.

An ice cream scoop works perfect for scooping the dough.

Drop in the center of the waffle iron. A Belgium Waffle Iron works best.

Ta-Dah!!!

This is Coco's Humane Society/Begging Face. She LOVES waffles.

You can eat them plain or...

Topped with your favorite flavor combination!

Cornmeal Mush- A Recipe That Tastes Much Better Than it Sounds

Cornmeal mush...I wish I could think of a better name for this dish than what it is called but I haven't been able to come up with anything more appealing. It has several different variations including, polenta and grits, but this specific recipe is slightly different than those. 

Anywho...regardless of it's name this dish is so yummy and versatile. It originally came about in the Depression when food was less abundant and plain. My great grandma would make it, which it turned to my grandma making it, then my mother and now me. 

Partly why I love this dish is its simplicity. It is made from only 4 ingredients and comes together quickly and easily. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch or whenever the mood strikes you. I like to eat mine for breakfast with some butter and jam on top. I think it would also be delicious at breakfast if you topped it with some spinach, sliced tomato and a poached egg. For dinner you can serve your favorite bolognese sauce over it instead of using pasta, the options are endless. It is naturally gluten free and can also be made vegan so it is a winning dish for everyone.  Follow the simple steps below and you will have yourself a new favorite recipe in minutes!

Ingredients:

1 C. Cornmeal
2 C. Water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. butter (substitute Earthbalance or other spread if you are making it vegan)
1 tsp. sugar

The most important thing to remember in this recipe is your ratio of cornmeal to water, the rest is totally up to your taste. Your ratio should be 2:1, water to cornmeal, so you should always have twice as much water as you do cornmeal, easy peasy. 

Bring your water to a boil and then slowly pour in your cornmeal while quickly whisking to avoid clumping. Add salt, butter and sugar and continue to whisk and cook over low heat until cornmeal mixture has thickened, it should be the consistency of oatmeal. Remove from heat. At this point you can eat it as is, it will be kind of like eating cream of wheat cereal OR how I have always had it, though it requires a few more steps.

Line two small loaf pans or one normal size loaf pan, with saran wrap. Next pour the cornmeal mush into the two pans and cover the top with saran wrap. Place in your refrigerator overnight or if you want to eat it right away, like I usually do, place it in the freezer for an 30-45 minutes. Magically the corn meal mush turns into a solid once it has cooled!

Heat a griddle on the stove to medium heat. While your pan is heating remove the loaf from the pan and cut into slices. 

Once your pan is nice and toasty, melt some butter to prevent sticking and to add a nice crust to your cornmeal. Place slices onto griddle and let cook for 4-6 minutes on each side, until they have a nice golden color. Flip and repeat on the other side. 

Top with whatever flavor combination you want or even eat it plain! Enjoy!