Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

I hope you all had a great New Year's and are enjoying 2011 so far!

I don't know about you, but my New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful.

We took down our tree & did some housecleaning.  Then that night we went to dinner, and I made these muffins for brunch the next day at my Aunt Jody's house.

Mr. Vittles... was a little less productive.

Here he is at 10PM that night.

And then at 11PM.

And just a few seconds before midnight.

Finally I woke him up because I could not bear to do "3...2...1" with Dick Clark alone!

But the year is off to a good start.  It's been really warm out, so the giant mountains of snow are melting into small hills.

And we had a great time at my aunt's house on New Years Day.

Aunt Jody, Me, and Mr. V

I thought the muffins came out great and even Mr. V (who does not like cooked bananas) said they were pretty good.  Since they only use one banana, the taste is a little more subtle.

The rest of brunch was delicious too, and my aunt & uncle just put in the most fabulous bar - which I am so jealous of!

Uncle Bob & Aunt Jody

Needless to say, we sampled a few beverages.

The pictures don't really do it justice, but take my word - it's unbelievable!

On another note, I am sad to let you guys know that I have to take a little break from blogging.

For one, my faithful laptop has broken :( I am using Mr. Vittles' computer temporarily until my new one arrives in the mail.

And secondly, I am having surgery on both my feet tomorrow.  Nothing serious, but it is going to be slow going over here for a bit while the tootsies recover.

The bad news is I won't be back to cooking or baking for a while- but the good news is I have some photos and recipes up my sleeve that I haven't gotten around to posting yet.

So... that should get us through the next month together, and then hopefully I will be back in action.

Wish me luck, I'll miss you!

In the meantime... enjoy these scrumptious muffins with my compliments :)

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

• 2 C. all purpose flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 2/3 C. firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 ripe banana, mashed 
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 C. milk
• 6 T. canola oil
• 1 t. vanilla 
• 2/3 C. peanut butter (I used creamy, but crunchy would work too)
• granulated crystal sugar, for topping (optional) 

Preheat oven 400 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with 12 paper liners.

In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.  Set aside.

In medium bowl, mash banana.  Add eggs, milk, canola oil, vanilla, and peanut butter.  Mix until combined.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour wet ingredients into well, and stir gently until combined.  Do not overmix!  The mixture should be lumpy with a few traces of flour.

Spoon batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle with granulated crystal sugar, if using.  Bake about 20 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown, and firm to the touch.

Let muffins cool in pan 5 minutes, then cool completely on rack (or serve warm, if desired.)

Recipe Adapted from 1 Mix, 100 Muffins, by Susanna Tee