Roasted Banana Muffins

We had some out of town guests recently, and with all the entertaining, comings and goings, I somehow overlooked five nearly ripe bananas in my fruit bowl.  You've probably already guessed where this is going.  By the time I discovered the now, very ripe bananas they were good for only one thing.  That's right...it's time to bake.

After roasting the bananas on the grill, I made a double batch of these delicious muffins.  I use jumbo muffin tins.  I mean really, the only reason to use the standard twelve cup muffin tin, is if you're making them to share with others, and I wasn't.  These light textured muffins are a breakfast hit with wine country guests at The Carneros Inn, in California. 

For the most part, this recipe comes from the Plumpjack Cookbook.
I doubled the recipe ingredients and added an extra banana for good measure.  I used coconut milk instead of regular milk, and they tasted just as good as they have in the past.

Roasted Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
2 roasted bananas
1 1/2 Cups of all purpose flour 
1/2  Cup quinoa flour
1 1/4 Cup of sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 Cup of milk
1 large egg, beaten
4 Tb melted unsalted butter
1/2 Cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Heat oven to 400.

Directions:
Make a 3" slice down the side of the bananas. Lay them on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or til the skins turn brown and the juice from the banana starts to ooze out. Let cool, then scoop out into a bowl and mash with a fork.
In a large bowl combine flours (you can use 1 3/4C of all purpose if you want), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and whisk to combine evenly.
In another large bowl whisk milk, egg, and melted butter.  Stir in the mashed bananas. 
Thoroughly combine the dry ingredients with the banana mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to blend well.  Lastly, stir in the walnuts.
Either place a paper liner or spray with nonstick cooking spray in each of a twelve cup standard size or one jumbo muffin tray of six.  Spoon the batter into each muffin cup, filling about 3/4 full.
Bake until golden or until toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.

I wanted to show you this handy-dandy chopper/pickup gadget, called the Bench Scraper. It separates bread dough, chops fine herbs and is great for scooping chopped vegetables into a prep bowl or soup pot.  I  use it all the time, it's such a neat tool.