jumbo banana muffins and giving you the love

About two hundred and fifty posts ago, a good friend of mine suggested that I share the ‘love’ with each of my posts. He was referring to my tagline “The secret to being a good cook is to use great ingredients. The secret to being a great cook is to use your ingredients with love.”

Family secrets, reading cook books for forty years, a billion magazine articles, traveling and eating all over the world, chatting with chefs and a life time of being in the kitchen has given me a tool box of ‘love’. The little tricks that I’ve picked up along my culinary journey.

Sometimes, I did include a tip or two while I was sharing a recipe but I never came right out and told you that was the ‘love’! That one little thing that can take your cooking from pedestrian to knocking it out of the park. I’m sorry. The truth is I’ve been so preoccupied with learning how to maneuver through this new-to-me world of social media and even more daunting learning how to turn my camera on, that I forgot my friend’s suggestion. It wasn’t until this morning, while I was stirring the batter for these muffins with a wooden spoon, that I remembered. It was the spoon. If you have never been told to use a wooden spoon to stir muffin batter why would you? Every recipe has a secret that will only be coaxed out with the help of a bit of love…

jumbo banana muffins

makes 6 large muffins

preheat oven 375*F

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup multi-grain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Whisk together in a large bowl then set aside.

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup brown sugar

5 really ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 pecans

In a separate bowl, stir together then add to the flour mixture.

Divide the batter between 6 over-sized muffin cups. Place a pecan on top of each muffin.

Bake for 30 minutes

THE LOVE: USE A WOODEN SPOON TO JUST COMBINE THE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS.THE BATTER WILL BE LUMPY. RESIST THE URGE TO GIVE THE BATTER A GOOD WHIP. IT WILL MAKE YOUR MUFFINS TOUGH!

Thanks for reading.