Banana Muffins

These muffins are soft, moist, and extremely flavorful! They are the best banana muffins I have had in a long time. They are incredibly easy to make and you don't even have to dirty any dishes!

To make 12-15 of these delicious muffins you will need:

• 3 ripe BANANAS (about 1 cup mashed)
• 2 EGGS
• 1 cup SUGAR
• 1 cup FLOUR
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 3/4 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/2 tsp BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 tsp CINNAMON
• 1/2 cup VEGETABLE OIL
• 1 tsp VANILLA
• Optional: 1/2 cup chopped WALNUTS or PECANS

To minimize the number of utensils you will need, measure all of the ingredients with a 1/2 measuring cup and 1/4 teaspoon. Then use either a large freezer baggie or a medium sized bowl to mix the ingredients up in. If you use a baggie, you can just throw it away after the muffins are made, no clean up! I didn't have a baggie big enough so I just used a bowl. (One bowl isn't bad though!) Another perk to using a baggie is that you can seal it and use your hands to mix the ingredients together where you need a fork or spoon to mix the ingredients in a bowl.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Then line a muffin tin with cupcake papers. Start making the batter by mashing the bananas.

Mix in the eggs and sugar, making sure that eggs are incorporated before adding the sugar. Once the sugar is mixed in, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. When the dry ingredients have been incorporated, add the oil, vanilla, optional nuts, and then mix well.

If you are using a baggie, snip the bottom corner off the baggie creating a small hole and squirt the batter into the cupcake papers. If you are using a bowl, you will have to simply pour the batter in. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full with batter. (I skipped the cupcake papers and the muffins still turned out great!)

Bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean!

I know the muffins look a little bit dark around the edges because I didn't use cupcake papers, but they aren't hard or burnt tasting at all!

These muffins are so good! You can't eat just one!

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Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe BANANAS (about 1 cup mashed)
• 2 EGGS
• 1 cup SUGAR
• 1 cup FLOUR
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 3/4 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/2 tsp BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 tsp CINNAMON
• 1/2 cup VEGETABLE OIL
• 1 tsp VANILLA
• Optional: 1/2 cup chopped WALNUTS or PECANS

Directions:

To minimize the number of utensils you will need, measure all of the ingredients with a 1/2 measuring cup and 1/4 teaspoon. Then use either a large freezer baggie or a medium sized bowl to mix the ingredients up in. If you use a baggie, you can just throw it away after the muffins are made, no clean up! I didn't have a baggie big enough so I just used a bowl. (One bowl isn't bad though!) Another perk to using a baggie is that you can seal it and use your hands to mix the ingredients together where you need a fork or spoon to mix the ingredients in a bowl.

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Then line a muffin tin with cupcake papers. (I skipped the cupcake papers and the muffins still turned out great!)
2. Start making the batter by mashing the bananas. 
3. Mix in the eggs and sugar, making sure that eggs are incorporated before adding the sugar. Once the sugar is mixed in, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. When the dry ingredients have been incorporated, add the oil and vanilla and mix well. 
4. If you are using a baggie you can snip the bottom corner off the baggie creating a small hole and squirt the batter into the cupcake papers. If you are using a bowl, you will have to simply pour the batter in. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full with batter. 
5. Bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean!

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I got this wonderful recipe from the following blog: http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2013/10/the-best-banana-bread-muffins-ever.html

Cinnamon Rolls

I've made these cinnamon rolls a few times and they are delicious! Though, you definitely want to eat them sooner than later (I know, darn it! Right?) because after a day or two they don't taste as fresh... 

I got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman, but adapted it a little because her recipe makes like 2,567 cinnamon rolls, and my husband and I certainly don't need that many! When I made the dough, I ended up cutting her recipe in half, and then cooked up one half then and froze the other half for later. Translation: I only cook 1/4 of the Pioneer Woman's recipe at a time, and it still makes about 24 cinnamon rolls!

The cinnamon rolls that are pictured in this post are actually from the dough that was frozen (for about 5-6 weeks) and as you can see, they still turned out great! The freezer is such a great thing. You can make the dough when you have time, freeze it, and then defrost it when you need it. Whether it be for a special brunch or a party that you didn't realize you needed to bring something to until the night before!

To make a half batch of Pioneer Woman's dough (that I then split again in my house) you will need: 

• 2 cups WHOLE MILK (I used 1% since that's what I had on hand)
• 1/2 cup VEGETABLE OIL
• 1/2 cup SUGAR
• 1 package ACTIVE DRY YEAST (0.25 oz packet)
• 4 cups FLOUR, plus extra to roll the dough out on 
• 1/2 heaping tsp BAKING POWDER 
• 1/2 scant tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/2 Tbs SALT

You will also need the following to put on the dough to make it sweet and gooey and wonderful (this will be enough to cover half of the dough prepared above):

• 1/3-1/2 cup melted BUTTER
• 1/2 cup SUGAR
• generous sprinkling of CINNAMON

To make the icing you will need (this will be enough to cover cinnamon rolls made from half of the dough prepared):

• 2 cups POWDERED SUGAR
• 1/2 tsp MAPLE FLAVORING (you can substitute VANILLA EXTRACT if you don't have any)
• 1 Tbs melted BUTTER
• 1 Tbs brewed COFFEE
• pinch of SALT

Aside from the different amount of the ingredients, I followed the Pioneer Woman's recipe exactly so for the direction of how to prepare the rolls I will refer you to her website: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

Here are some pictures of my beautiful cinnamon rolls!

Rolls before rising:

Rolls before rising:

Rolls after rising:

Rolls after baking:

Rolls after glazing: YUM!

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Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

To make a half batch of Pioneer Woman's dough (that I then split again in my house) you will need: 

• 2 cups WHOLE MILK (I used 1% since that's what I had on hand)
• 1/2 cup VEGETABLE OIL
• 1/2 cup SUGAR
• 1 package ACTIVE DRY YEAST (0.25 oz packet)
• 4 cups FLOUR, plus extra to roll the dough out on 
• 1/2 heaping tsp BAKING POWDER 
• 1/2 scant tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/2 Tbs SALT

You will also need the following to put on the dough to make it sweet and gooey and wonderful (this will be enough to cover half of the dough prepared above):

• 1/3-1/2 cup melted BUTTER
• 1/2 cup SUGAR
• generous sprinkling of CINNAMON

To make the icing you will need (this will be enough to cover cinnamon rolls made from half of the dough prepared):

• 2 cups POWDERED SUGAR
• 1/2 tsp MAPLE FLAVORING (you can substitute VANILLA EXTRACT if you don't have any)
• 1 Tbs melted BUTTER
• 1 Tbs brewed COFFEE
• pinch of SALT

Directions:

1. Aside from the different amount of the ingredients, I followed the Pioneer Woman's recipe exactly so for the direction of how to prepare the rolls I will refer you to her website: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

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