Banana Muffins TDF

I wanted to tell you about these Kona Inn Banana Muffins from the 150 Best American Recipes Book. The recipe is from the highly regarded baker, Marion Cunningham, author of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. These turn out really, really good. I liken them to the banana muffins from the original Corner Bakery, back when the Corner Bakery was just one bakery (with breads from Nancy Silverton) and not a corporate entity. The recipe makes only 12 perfect muffins but uses a whopping 5 bananas. My math tells me that's roughly 4 tenths of a banana per muffin. And there's no cinnamon or vanilla, just pure banana flavor. The only thing is the recipe calls for shortening, which I don't really like to use. I do keep some in the freezer though, because I use it for Ina Garten's Perfect Pie Crust. I just use the no-trans fat variety and try not to think about it. The recipe is written in sort of a tedious way, perhaps intended for the novice baker. I apologize for that.

Kona Inn Banana Muffins

½ c veg. shortening, plus more for greasing pan
1 ¼ c all purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling on the pan
5 very ripe med. bananas
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
1 c sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Smear the cups of a muffin pan with shortening and sprinkle with a little flour and shake the pan to distribute. Turn the pan upside down over the wastebasket and shake out excess flour.

Peel the bananas, place them in a large bowl and beat them well with an electric mixer. The riper the bananas and the more you mash them, the more tender your muffins will be. Don’t expect absolute smoothness, there will always be a few lumps. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add sugar, shortening, eggs and walnuts to the bananas and mix well. ( I like to save some walnuts to put on the top) Add the dry ingredients ot the banana mixture and stir just until the batter is thoroughly blended.

Fill muffin cups to about two-thirds full. If you’ve reserved some walnuts, dot the tops of the batter with them.

Place pan in the lower third of the oven. After 15 minutes, check the muffins for doneness. A toothpick should come out clean. If not, cook 5 minutes longer and check again. When toothpick comes out clean, remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Run a knife along the edges of the muffins and transfer them to a platter serve warm.

These can be a cake. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and divide the batter between them. Bake for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in the pan for 10 minutes. Dust completely cooled cakes with powdered sugar.