Blueberry Banana Muffins (Small Batch) #MuffinMonday

Overripe banana and juicy frozen blueberries make these blueberry banana muffins some of the best I’ve ever baked. Small batch of six! Highly recommend! 

I never worried about getting rid of ripe bananas when my mom was around. Her attitude (and my maternal grandfather’s, for the matter) was that when it comes to bananas, the darker, the better. Sadly, after several months of declining health, Mom passed away three weeks ago. I am blessed to tell you that she was here at home with us and her transition was peaceful. 

After she died, I had one last black banana to use up so I made these muffins. She would have really liked them but I console myself that in heaven, there are probably all the muffins she wants. And all the super ripe bananas too. 

Banana Blueberry Muffins - Small Batch

This recipe makes six normal sized muffins. My husband declared them chock full of blueberries and so they are. We think that’s a good thing and I hope you agree. 

Ingredients

1 cup or 125g all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil, plus extra for the pan

1 medium overripe banana (mine weighed 65g without peel)

1/3 cup, packed, or 66g brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup or 125g frozen blueberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Prepare your six-cup muffin pan by brushing it will a little canola oil. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, add the banana, oil and egg. Mash the banana with a fork. 

Then use the fork to mix the three together thoroughly. 

Add all but six of the frozen blueberries to the dry ingredient bowl and fold gently so they are covered with the dry ingredients. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl.   

Fold until well combined. Adding the frozen blueberries to the batter while they are still frozen means they don’t mush or fall apart while you fold them in. They do add moisture as they thaw while the muffins bake so don’t be worried that the batter is more like a dough as you spoon it into the muffin cups. 

Spoon the batter equally into the 6 muffin cups. Top each with a single reserved blueberry.

Bake for 5 minutes in your preheated oven then decrease the oven temperature to 350°F or 180°C WITHOUT opening the oven door, and bake for 15-18 minutes more until domed and set. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with just a couple crumbs attached.

Let cool for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s Muffin Monday time. Check out the muffins my fellow bloggers are sharing below.

• Banana Crumb Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Blueberry Banana Muffins (Small Batch) from Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Cranberry Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Matcha Chocolate Chip Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Orange and Strawberry Whole Wheat Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sourdough Banana Carrot Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Banana Pecan Caramel Sauce

Gooey, sweet and sticky, this banana pecan caramel sauce is perfection over ice cream, brownies or baked apples. Or you can just eat it with a spoon. You won’t get any judgment from me. Seriously, it’s that good. 

I am not a big sweet eater but I do have a fondness for caramel. The caramelization of sugar adds a welcome slight bitterness that I find very appealing and I know I’m not alone in that. Some of the most popular candies in the world have caramel as an element. Think Snickers, Milky Way and Twix to name just three.

As a kid, my movie candy of choice was always a big box of Milk Duds and I loved Sugar Daddys which were basically a solid rectangle of caramel on a stick. Those would pull your fillings out if you weren’t careful! Totally worth the risk. 

If you feel the same way as I do about caramel, you are going to love this sauce. 

Banana Pecan Caramel Sauce

This recipe makes a little more than two cups of sauce. Because of the bananas, I recommend you store any leftovers in a refrigerator, which means it will turn solid but spoon-able. Gently rewarm it back to sauce consistency before using. This recipe is adapted from one on Marsha’s Baking Addiction.

Ingredients

1 cup or 240ml water

2 cups or 400g sugar

1/2 cup or 57g chopped pecans

2 medium bananas (about 180g), pureed until smooth

1/2 cup or 120ml heavy cream, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the water and sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar.

Turn the heat down to medium and allow the mixture to come to a light amber color without stirring. 

Instead, swirl the pan around occasionally to make sure the mixture caramelizes evenly. (This can take a while. Be patient, and don't be tempted to turn up the heat!)

Remove the pan from the heat, and add in the chopped pecans. Stir well.

 Add in the pureed banana. Stir constantly until combined and the bubbling has stopped.

Place back on the heat, and keep stirring until the mixture becomes a deep, rich amber color.

Remove from the heat and gradually pour in the heavy cream, stirring constantly until combined. The sauce might sugar up at this point if your cream isn't room temperature but just keep stirring and all will be well, as the sugar melts again and it turns back into a sauce. 

Take the pot off of the stove and stir in the vanilla.

Pour the caramel into a heat-proof jar and allow to cool completely before using. Serve over ice cream or even spread on toast or pancakes. 

Or eat it with a spoon. 

Again, no judgment from me.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and my blogger friends and I are celebrating National Banana Lover’s Day, which is today! How will you celebrate? We’ve got a list of great recipes you might like to try. Check them out below: 

• Banana Chip Cookies with Melted Caramel from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Banana Mousse from Culinary Cam
• Banana Pecan Caramel Sauce from Food Lust People Love
• Banana Zucchini Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Coated Banana from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Double Chocolate Whole Wheat Banana Bread from Cook with Renu
• Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Pretzel Bites from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Sourdough Banana Appe from Sneha’s Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins #MuffinMonday

These small batch banana walnut muffins are perfect for breakfast or snack time, full of sweet banana flavor and crunch from the nuts. Serve them with a cup of hot tea or a glass of cold milk!

It’s the last Monday of the month so it’s time for Muffin Monday! Also, happy Halloween! I’m not going to suggest you hand out muffins because kids want candy, but muffins would be good for snacking on while you hand over the sweet stuff. 

Make sure to scroll down to see the other muffin recipes my friends are sharing today. 

Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins

This recipe is adapted from one on One Dish Kitchen. I have a feeling that my bananas must be larger than hers because I could easily have stretched the batter out to another muffin or even two. As it was, a couple of mine spilled over while baking. I’ve amended the ingredient list to say “medium” bananas. Perhaps that will help. I will say, we loved the muffins and I would make them again! 

Ingredients

2 overripe medium bananas

6 tablespoons or 85g butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for the pan

1 large egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup or 125g flour

½ cup or 100g sugar

1 oz or 28g walnuts, chopped (about 13 shelled walnut halves) 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Optional for decorating: 6 shelled walnut halves 

I set six aside and then forgot to put them on top before baking. Oh, well. 

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin pan by buttering it or lining it with paper liners. Alternatively, you can use silicone muffin cups, as I did. 

In a large bowl, mash your bananas with a fork. 

Add in the cooled, melted butter, the egg and the vanilla extract and whisk till all are incorporated. 

Fold in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, along with the chopped walnuts, until just mixed. 

You might have a little flour still showing and that’s just fine. 

Divide the batter between your prepared muffin cups. Top each with a walnut half, if desired. (Or if you remember.)

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.

Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned, today is Muffin Monday. Check out the recipes my fellow muffin bakers are sharing. 

• Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Cinnamon Pecan Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Pulled Pork Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Raisin Bran Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Potato Walnut Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins!

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Banana Split Quick Bread #BreadBakers

This banana split quick bread is baked with all the things you love about that special dessert, save the ice cream. Serve it with a scoop, if desired but it’s wonderful treat all on its own. 

For this month’s Bread Bakers I’m the host so I decided to take ever-popular banana bread and ask my fellow bakers to put their own spin on it. I didn’t have a recipe in mind myself and then suddenly, the deadline to bake was upon me. 

Inspiration struck at my local grocery store where some clever person had put together the ingredients (sans ice cream since it wasn’t in the freezer section) for banana splits in the hope that shoppers would take the hint. 

Crushed pineapple, maraschino cherries, chocolate sauce, pecans and, of course, bananas. Like most independent ideas I seem to have, I discovered that this one has been done before. Deep sigh. 

Banana Split Quick Bread

This recipe is adapted from one on Taste of Home. Among other changes, and since it’s cherry season, I used fresh ones instead of maraschino cherries. If you like them, feel free to use them. They do make a brighter show when the bread is sliced. 

Ingredients

1/3 cup or 75g butter

2/3 cup or 132g sugar

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cups or 218g all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup or 185g mashed ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 medium)

1 can (8 oz or 227g) crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup or 90g semisweet chocolate chips

3 1/2 oz or 100g fresh cherries (weight after stemming and pitting – about 1/2 cup chopped)

1/2 cup or 60g chopped pecans

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a loaf pan with baking parchment. 

Chop the cherries with a sharp knife.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the first egg and beat until incorporated.

Add the second egg and beat well. 

Beat in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, bananas and pineapple. 

Fold in the chocolate chips, cherries and pecans.

Spoon your thick batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top. 

Bake at for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pan about three-quarters of the way through. If the top is brown before it’s cooked in the middle, cover the loaf lightly with some foil. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

If you can resist, leave to cool completely before cutting. 

I just couldn’t wait and so the bread knife kind of smeared the warm chocolate bits on the cut slices. No matter, still tasted delicious! 

 

Enjoy!

Do you like banana bread? If so, this is your month for Bread Bakers! Check out all the creative recipes below. 

• Air Fryer Banana Blueberry Oats Muffins from Cook with Renu
• Banana Cinnamon Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Banana Split Quick Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Coconut Flour Banana Bread - Gluten & Sugar Free from Sneha’s Recipe
• Simply Banana Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Sugar Free Sourdough Banana Bread with Pecans from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Tangzhong Banana Buns from Magical Ingredients
• Triple Berry Banana Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Yeasted Banana Sandwich Bread from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Banana Jam Muffins #MuffinMonday

These banana jam muffins are made with homemade banana jam – so easy! – swirled through buttermilk muffin batter then baked to golden perfection. 

I was awake in the middle of the night last week, as I often am a few days before Muffin Monday when I don’t have a muffin planned. I ran through the options of 1. what I already own ingredient-wise and 2. what my family is most likely to eat. 

The bottom line is that sweet muffins are more popular than savory so I discarded thoughts of Boursin, cheddar and blue cheese. That left me with blackberries (which I used last month so never mind), raspberries, pears and bananas. Pretty sure I've baked muffins with each of those before and several with bananas.

And then suddenly a thought popped into my head: Can a person make ripe bananas into jam? Is banana jam even a thing? Yes, my middle-of-the-night brain is a weird and wonderful thing. Banana jam was the first thing I googled as soon as I got out of bed that next morning.

You’ve seen my title so you know it is a THING. I’m here to tell you that it’s also delicious. I only made enough for these muffins but next time I’m going to double or treble the recipe because it would be lovely spread on toast with peanut butter. If you decide to do that right now, (and I highly recommend you do) store it in a clean jar in the refrigerator. This banana jam is not acidic enough to be safe for very long as a canned jam. 

Banana Jam Muffins

The banana jam can be made ahead. Just store it in a clean vessel in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake. No buttermilk? Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to your measuring cup then pour in the milk to the half-cup mark.  The jam recipe is adapted from one on FOOD52.

Ingredients

For the banana jam:

2 small ripe bananas (about 4.75 oz or 135g, post-peeling)

1/3 cup, firmly packed, or 66g light brown sugar

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 tablespoon aged rum

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the 6 muffins:

1 1/4 cups or 156g flour

1/3 cup or 66g sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or 120ml buttermilk

1 egg

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

1/2 cup or 150g banana jam

Method

First, we’ll make the jam. Combine the bananas and sugar in a small pot. Before you put it on the stove, mash the bananas with a fork until the fruit is chunky and the sugar syrupy. 

Set over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. Add the lime juice and salt. 

Continue to cook at a steady simmer - stirring occasionally - for about 10 minutes, until the jam thickens. When you can pull a spatula through it and the gap doesn’t run closed immediately, it’s done. 

Remove the bananas from the heat and stir in the rum and vanilla.

Set the banana jam aside aside to cool while you assemble your muffin ingredients and prepare the muffin pan.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin pan by greasing it with oil or butter or lining it with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

In a smaller mixing bowl whisk the egg, milk and oil together. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl. Fold to combine. Do not over mix.

 Gently swirl in the banana jam.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups in your prepared pan. 

Q1. Did I over fill these cups? That depends on how you feel about very large muffin tops. Q2. Could you bake this batter into 7 or even 8 muffins? Absolutely. Should you? See question 1. 

I stand by my six muffin decision.

Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean. Yeah, they touch. Fight me. 

Remove from the pan after they’ve cooled a few minutes and put them on a wire rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. 

Enjoy!

It's the last Monday of the month so that means it's time for Muffin Monday! Check out the great muffin recipes we have for you today. 

• Banana Jam Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Cream Cheese Filled Red Velvet Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Italian Herb Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Peanut Butter Banana Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Savory Breakfast Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Stuffed Cinnamon Streusel Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Banana Jam Muffins!

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