This weekend was great. On Sunday, I had a delicious brunch then watched a whole bunch of football on Saturday night (well, I suppose the Oklahoma State debacle would be the low point of the weekend.)
I hung out with my mom and little sister on Friday. That's where the four ripe bananas came from. As the family food blogger, I'm the recipient of many an extra ingredient. Then it's up to me to figure out what to do with them. What a great perk!
I didn't want to make banana bread and I wanted to use some of the gorgeous dried apricots I had on hand. I searched and searched for a recipe, but I didn't find one that was exactly what I was looking for. I ended up using this Martha Stewart recipe as a basis. I tried to make it a little healthier and I added some oats and the apricots for flavor and texture. The results were wonderful! I took the extras to work Monday morning and they were gone within an hour!
Banana-Oat Muffins with Apricots
adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
3/4 c. packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c. apple cider or apple juice
1 large egg
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt
3/4 c. quick-cooking oats
2/3 c. dried apricots, chopped
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Spray the liners with non-stick spray.
2. Peel four bananas and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until mashed, about one minute.
3. Add brown sugar, applesauce, apple cider, and egg; beat until smooth.
4. Reduce speed to low. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until smooth. Add yogurt and beat until smooth.
5. Mix in oats and apricots by hand until just incorporated.
6. Fill muffin liners three-quarters full (I like to use a standard-sized scoop). Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
7. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store, covered, at room temperature. Yields 21-24 muffins.
One year ago: one of my favorite cool weather meals, classic roasted chicken
I hung out with my mom and little sister on Friday. That's where the four ripe bananas came from. As the family food blogger, I'm the recipient of many an extra ingredient. Then it's up to me to figure out what to do with them. What a great perk!
I didn't want to make banana bread and I wanted to use some of the gorgeous dried apricots I had on hand. I searched and searched for a recipe, but I didn't find one that was exactly what I was looking for. I ended up using this Martha Stewart recipe as a basis. I tried to make it a little healthier and I added some oats and the apricots for flavor and texture. The results were wonderful! I took the extras to work Monday morning and they were gone within an hour!
Banana-Oat Muffins with Apricots
adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
3/4 c. packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c. apple cider or apple juice
1 large egg
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt
3/4 c. quick-cooking oats
2/3 c. dried apricots, chopped
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Spray the liners with non-stick spray.
2. Peel four bananas and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until mashed, about one minute.
3. Add brown sugar, applesauce, apple cider, and egg; beat until smooth.
4. Reduce speed to low. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until smooth. Add yogurt and beat until smooth.
5. Mix in oats and apricots by hand until just incorporated.
6. Fill muffin liners three-quarters full (I like to use a standard-sized scoop). Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
7. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store, covered, at room temperature. Yields 21-24 muffins.
One year ago: one of my favorite cool weather meals, classic roasted chicken