Snacks

My tastes are changing again. My whole life I’ve noticed that my taste preferences change every ten years or so. I wouldn’t eat green beans until I was in my twenties and I HATED mushrooms until my thirties when I tasted morels and then I became OBSESSED with all things mushroom. I’ve even come to appreciate olives and bell peppers. I don’t enjoy them in everything but I do agree they have their place in the food world. In my forties now (wow) I love all things SALTY. Which leads me to this new favorite snack.  We often make bacon on the weekends and store the extra in the fridge to make breakfast sandwiches for the week. I didn’t want an egg on an English muffin so I randomly decided to put peanut butter on my English muffin and I threw Bacon on it. YUM!! Elvis Presley knew what he was doing when he ate these sammies! I’ve had that a few times and then this week my daughter left half a banana for me. I spread that on the muffin too and WOW!! Delish!!

Tools

• toaster
• knife
• microwave

Ingredients

• 1 English Muffin
• 1/4 ripe banana
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• 2 teaspoons of peanut butter
• 2 slices of cooked bacon

Recipe

Toast your English Muffin, heat your bacon for 10 seconds in the microwave. Spread the butter and peanut butter on the muffin. Smash the banana over the peanut butter and butter. Layer the bacon on top. DEVOUR!

I love cooking. There is something about the feeling I get when I feel like a nailed a recipe and I watch my family or friends faces when they taste it.  The smile, the nod, the closing of the eyes in enjoyment bring me such joy. These muffins do this for me!  They are moist, tender and a little bit sweet. I substitute some applesauce for the oil in the recipe so it’s lower in fat than traditional muffins but I swear you can’t tell the difference! This recipe makes  one large  loaf or about 14 muffins.  I used a muffin pan and a mini bundt pan because my daughter likes to have a “little cake” to herself. I use my extra overripe ugly brown bananas that I keep in my freezer along with frozen shredded zucchini from the summer from my garden.

Tools

• muffin tin or loaf pan
• butter knife
• whisk
• paper towel
• mixing bowl
• measuring cups
• toothpick for testing doneness
• cooling racks

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of Brown sugar packed
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup of overripe mashed bananas*
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 scant teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of pie spice or cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini*
• 1 Tablespoon of butter

Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat eggs, then add sugar, oil, vanilla and applesauce. Mash the overripe bananas until almost liquified and add to the batter. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pie spice and mix well. Stir in the shredded zucchini.  Use your paper towel to butter your muffin tins or loaf pans. Fill your muffin tins  3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in the pan. Then take your butter knife and carefully go around the edges of the tin and flip out muffins. Cool on your racks. Enjoy!!

DELISH TIP 1: SCANT = a little less than

DELISH TIP 2: I use SUPER overripe bananas from my freezer. The browner their peel the better! I thaw them in the microwave and squish them with my clean hands!

DELISHTIP 3: I use fresh shredded zucchini sometimes if it’s summer but I often use it frozen because I shred it and save it from my garden. I will drain some of the water from the zucchini if its really watery. But you’ll need a 1/2 cup.