YUM-O!!! *Strawberry-Banana Muffins*

*Strawberry-Banana Muffins*

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries/strawberries (cut into small pieces)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Position rack in center of oven. Line muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and mashed bananas. Add the melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.

In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking. Do not over mix or the blueberries will end up coloring the batter blue. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full of batter. Fill any unused muffin cups halfway with water to prevent warping of the pan and/or over browning of the muffins. Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

I also made some icing with powdered sugar and a little milk and drizzled over the top of the muffins after they cooled.

This recipe courtesy of joyofbaking.com

TIP:

For times when you have overripe bananas and don't want to bake them right away, you can freeze them whole (in the peels), wrapped airtight, for up to 6 months. Or you can peel and mash them, stir in 1 tsp of lemon juice for each banana, and freeze in an airtight container or bag. Then you are ready to make muffins anytime.