That's Bananas

Most of us can agree on bananas. They're a good, healthy snack by themselves and a yummy complement to peanut butter, nutella, smoothies & more. I usually have some around my apartment but what do you do with them when they start to go bad? Personally I only like to eat the fruit when it is under-ripe to ripe.  Once they start getting brown the texture grosses me out.  But not to waste!

Here are some good ideas for brown bananas:
1. Cut the banana into small chunks, put it in a bag & freeze it. Next time you want to make a smoothie throw in the frozen banana pieces with some yogurt, juice & and other fruits and blend. Or another tasty option is to put the frozen pieces in the blender with some peanut butter & milk- this is like a "milkshake" with less calories since no ice cream is involved.
2. Mash the banana up and add it to plain oatmeal in the morning with some nuts, brown sugar & a touch of cinnamon to make "banana bread" oatmeal.
3. Bake real banana bread or banana muffins- this is what I did over the weekend using the recipe below. It takes about 40 minutes total & it makes your apartment smell fantastic!  These with coffee on a Saturday morning are perfection.  Enjoy!

MMMuffin

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Adapted from this recipe
I love the kitschiness of the chocolate chips but if you're not feeling chocolate for breakfast sub in some chopped nuts.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (if you use Greek yogurt you may have to add some milk to the batter if it seems too thick) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped nuts)

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin tin with paper liners.  The recipe makes 10 muffins.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. If the mixture seems too dry add a splash of milk. 
4. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips (or nuts).
5. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.