Going Bananas

I am going Bananas lately...literally.  I have been a crazy lady lately baking with bananas (probably because I always buy too many during my grocery store trip).  They turn brown by the end of the week and I hate to throw them away, and my too little monsters (Capt. Crazy & Mr. Delicious) love anything with Bananas in it.  Here are two of my favorite healthy baking recipes with the funny little fruit (p.s.  these both have awesome fiber content, good for the little ones).  Enjoy!

Heavenly Healthy Banana Bread (King Arthur Flour Recipe)

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups Mashed bananas (about 4 bananas, very ripe)
1/4 cup Honey
2 large eggs
2 cups King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and salt.  Add the bananas, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth.  Add the flour, then the walnuts, stirring until smooth.  Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9X5 inch loaf pan, smoothing the top.  Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Bake the bread for 50 minutes, then lay a piece of foil across the top, to prevent from over-browning.  Bake for an additional 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the oven after a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow the loaf to cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan, and cooling it completely on a rack.  Yield: 1 loaf.

This was gone in 15 minutes

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (allrecipes.com - adapted by me, where indicated**)
Ingredients
1 3/4 cup flour (** I did 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup whole wheat flour)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup yogurt (** I used plain Greek yogurt)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (** I used three large bananas)
3/4 cup. Semisweet chocolate chips
** I added 3 1/2 tbls. of Ground Flax seed meal for added fiber and Omega-3) **

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a mixer, combine the egg, oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Blend on low and then gradually add the dry ingredients and mix well.  Fold in the bananas and chocolate chips and blend until incorporated on low.  Fill greased or lined muffin pans about two-thirds full (I used 1/4 cup of batter per muffin cup).  Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan onto wire racks to cool.

Hello melted Chocolate

Pirate Muffin liners for my little men