Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Banana Date Muffins

Banana Date Muffins

Banana Date Muffins

I've been on a banana kick. These banana date muffins were well balanced and tasted as much of cardamom and nutmeg as they did of banana. They're great for breakfast! Try to use Medjool dates; there is a huge difference between good, unpitted dates and the small, hard things in most commercial packages.

I'd heard you can bake in Starbucks cups. It's rather fun.

Banana Date Muffins
adapted from Carole Walter's Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More

2 very ripe, medium bananas
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, spooned in and leveled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamom
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup very fresh, pitted, hand-cut dates (1/4 inch dice)
1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid
1/2 cup very fresh dark brown sugar
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat the oven to 375 F. Line 14 muffin cups with paper or foil cupcake liners.

2. Cut the bananas into 1 inch chunks and place them in a medium bowl. Mash with a potato masher or a fork. You should have about 1 cup banana pulp. Stir in the lemon juice and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cardamom, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Toss the dates and nuts through the dry ingredients, separating the pieces of dates with your fingertips.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the tepid butter and brown sugar. Blend in the bananas, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla.

5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the banana-egg mixture. Using an oversize spatula, incorporate the dry ingredients into the liquids by pushing them from the side of the bowl toward the center. DO NOT OVERMIX. It's okay if a few streaks of flour remain.

6. Portion generous scoops of the batter into the prepared pans using a no. 16 ice cream scoop (1/4 cup capacity.)

7. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and the tops are springy to the touch. To ensure even baking, toward the end o baking time, rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

drool! I love dates, cardamom, bananas...I can't wait to try the recipe this weekend...been getting tired of having scones every morning (been on a baking binge this week and ended up with 2 dozen scones in the freezer). I think these muffins will be great for breakfast...

grace said...

i worked at a starbucks for 3 years and never heard that you could bake in their cups. what an awesome idea, and it looks like it worked well!

Anonymous said...

Hows does one acquire a bunch of those little Starbucks cups? Do you right out ask for them?

Anonymous said...

Haha is this a take on how Starbucks should save their breakfast offerings?! :)

Pittsburgh Needs Eated said...

I got them from a friend who works for Starbucks. You can ask for them, but they might say no, or only offer you a few.

This isn't a take on anything- most of my baking decisions are arbitrary. I thought the cups would be handy when I need more muffin tins than I have.

The novelty wore off quickly- I feel weird handing out baked goods with labels on them. I think i'll stick to normal muffin papers.

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I thought it might be cute to bake a cappucinno or coffee muffin in them to take to work. Using Starbuck's coffee of course. I may ask them for a dozen.

JEP said...

The ingredients in this recipe are perfect for my tastes--thanks for the idea!

Jessica "Su Good Sweets" said...

While you're on your banana streak, my favorite banana bread is Gourmet's banana cake with chocolate-walnut streusel.

Stef said...

Wow! I had no idea you could bake in a Starbucks cup.

That would be so perfect for my gingerbread latte cupcakes!

http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2007/12/gingerbread-latte-cupcakes-eggnog-latte.html

Tracy said...

How cute! I wonder why Starbuck's cups would be special. If you could use theirs couldn't you use any paper cup?

Pittsburgh Needs Eated said...

tracy-

yes, I think most paper cups would work. Starbucks gets theirs from the same producer/distributor that tons of places do.

Elle said...

never heard of baking in Starbuck cups...make grande muffins?

Alicia said...

these look so cute! and really yummy. I'm looking for a muffin recipe and this looks good!! thanks for sharing!