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Caramelized Banana Nut Muffins

September 26, 2017

Prepared to have your world rocked by these caramelized banana nut muffins. These are not your ordinary banana nut muffins. No sir-ee. These banana nut muffins blow all others out of the water! 

It has to be the caramelized bananas that add a little extra sweetness and a much deeper flavor than a normal banana muffin. It’s not a candy-sweet banana flavor. It’s more of a rich banana flavor, if that makes sense. They are perfectly complimented by the nutty, slighly bitter walnuts that add an extra crunch factor.


But of course, it all starts with caramelized bananas. To caramelize them, I just cut them in half lengthwise, sprinkled a little sugar on top, then set under the broiler for a minute or two, until they are nice and toasted. 


To make the muffin batter, I actually varied my normal go-to muffin batter recipe. Well, I should say that I varied the method. Most muffin recipes use a bread making method, where you add all the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then mix. For these, I used a cake batter method: cream butter and sugar, add eggs (and other fat), then flour and liquids. This helps keep the muffins nice and light.

First, I creamed together the butter and sugars. Then I added the egg, vanilla, and Greek yogurt. 


To the butter mixture, I mixed in the half of the flour and then the milk. 


As for the nuts in these banana nut muffins, I used walnuts (but pecans would also be good). I crushed them into tiny pieces by placing them in a sandwich bag and smacking them with a rolling pin. It’s a great stress reliever!

Then I dumped the walnuts into the remaining flour and mixed that in with the rest of the batter. By mixing the nuts in with the flour, I ensure that the nuts are evenly dispersed throughout the muffins and don’t sink to the bottom.

Now for the good stuff. I gently mashed up the bananas and then folded them into the batter. 

After dividing the batter into the muffin tins I decided to add a little something extra. While these muffins would have been good on their own, who would turn down an extra crumb topping? Not me, that’s who!


To make the crumb topping, I combined some of the extra walnuts, flour, sugar, salt and some cold butter. Then I generously sprinkled the crumb topping on top of the muffins and popped them into the oven to bake. 

As these muffins bake they will fill your kitchen with the most wonderful smell! And once they come out of the oven, you will have a hard time waiting for them to cool before jumping in!

I certainly didn’t! I couldn’t help but taste test one before it had a chance to cool. And then to make sure they were still good, I had another. And then the top off of another. Then I forced myself to stop because my coworkers might start to wonder why I was only bringing in 9 muffins and not 12. 

I will most certainly be making these muffins again the next time I had some leftover bananas (which is pretty much all the time). They are my new favorite banana recipe, and I am sure they will be yours, too!
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/ Filed In: Breakfast, Eat, Other Sweets New
Tagged: baked, banana, banana nut, breakfast, caramelized, muffins, walnuts

Baked Mini Chimichangas

May 21, 2014

Biscuits Be Crazy - Mini Chimis3This little recipe has several different names in our house. Mini burritos, burritoitos (small burritos, if you will), and the most recent favorite, mini chimies (for mini chimichangas). We make a version of this recipe quite often. Then beauty of it, is that you can really play around with the filling and make it to fit your taste or whatever you have in your pantry. For this particular recipe, I just used lean ground turkey, onion, bell pepper, taco seasoning, and tomato paste.

Biscuits Be Crazy - Mini Chimis1The wrap is just an egg roll wrapper that you can get at your local super market near the refrigerated produce or dairy (look for the tofu or vegan foods and it is probably nearby). They are easy to work with if you work quickly, because they can dry out. First I place the filling in the center, fold in the sides, then roll it up. To make sure that the roll stays together, wet one end with water using your finger and press it together.

 Biscuits Be Crazy - Mini Chimis2

To ensure that they get egg roll wrapper gets nice and crispy, I like to bake them on a wire rack placed on top of a cookie sheet and brush them down with olive oil. And because the filling is already cooked, they only need to bake until the wrapper gets nice and golden brown.

Biscuits Be Crazy - Mini Chimis5As I mentioned, these can be filled with just about anything you want. Below are some of the combinations that I have tried that are always a big hit with my husband.

Bean & Cheese

Black Beans, Onion, Cheddar Cheese, Taco Seasoning, Tomato Paste

Pepperoni Pizza

Mozzarella Cheese, Pepperoni, Green Bell Pepper, Basil, Marinara Sauce

Apple Pie

Diced Apples, Lemon Juice, Cinnamon & Sugar

Biscuits Be Crazy - Mini Chimis6

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/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: baked, dinner, healthy, Mexican, turkey

Baked Strawberry Donuts

April 30, 2014

BBC Strawberry Donuts2When I was a kid, my dad would always take me to get donuts on the weekends. Something about a donut  just brings me back to simpler times when your only weekend responsibility was to play outside and maybe do a little homework. Oh, and not worrying about counting all those calories.

BBC Strawberry Donuts3Now, weekends are full of chores and errands, and of course a little fun here and there. And just like when I was a kid, I think weekends are a time for a little treat. A little reminder of being a kid again.

BBC Strawberry Donuts4What I love about making (and baking) donuts at home, is that they are just about the same recipe as a muffin just shaped in a circle. You can make them as healthy or unhealthy as you like. This weekend combines a little bit of both. The batter is made with whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt, but they also have 2 layers of icing.

BBC Strawberry Donuts5I glazed the donuts first in a vanilla glaze made with confectioners sugar and milk. Then I dipped them into a strawberry icing made with pureed strawberries and confectioners sugar.

BBC Strawberry Donuts6I also mixed strawberries into the batter for some extra strawberry flavor. Strawberry jam could instead be mixed into the batter for a more concentrated flavor.

BBC Strawberry Donuts7Other than the excessive icing, these donuts are a far cry from the ones I had from a child. They are baked, not fried, and use much more healthy ingredients. It almost makes this childhood favorite guilt-free again. Almost.

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/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: baked, breakfast, donut, doughnut, glaze, strawberry

Perfect Baked Chicken Wings

April 14, 2014

BBC Chicken Wings 2Who am I to tell you what the “perfect” baked chicken wing is? To be honest, I didn’t eat chicken wings until I started dating my husband. Well, I shouldn’t say dating…because wings are a horrible date food. I started eating wings when my then-boyfriend, now-husband, and I were in a deep, committed relationship. The kind of relationship where you can get sauce all over your face and rip crispy flesh from tiny chicken bones. It is probably what cemented our relationship.

Whoa. Sorry for the tangent. But really, my husband loves chicken wings, so it takes a lot to impress him.

BBC Chicken Wings 1The perfect baked chicken wings aren’t about the sauce you use. We all have different flavor preferences and spice tolerances. No. It’s about how you bake them (and how many times) to make sure they are nice and crispy.

First, I lined the chicken wings on a rack (like a cooling rack you use for cookies), over a foil lined baking sheet. Then I seasoned the chicken wings with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika and baked them at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

DSC03806editNext, I tossed the baked wings in my favorite barbeque sauce and baked them in the oven for another 5 minutes.

DSC03817editThe final step might seem trivial, but I think that it makes all the difference in the wings. After they baked a second time, I coated them again in sauce then I threw them on the grill to caramelize the sauce ans get a little char on the wings.

In the end, we had crispy, juicy, and flavorful wings that rivaled some of our favorite (fried) versions.

[yumprint-recipe id=’8′] 

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: baked, barbeque, chicken, recipe, wings

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Hey There!

Hey there, I'm Lindsey. I'm a number cruncher by day and a home cook and baker by night. While I love to eat healthy and find fresh and healthy alternatives for my favorite foods, I will never turn down dessert! Life is all about moderation, right?

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