Baking is a great way to spend your time at home. It takes focus to follow (or create) a recipe, and you end up with something delicious to show for your hard work. As well, baking your own treats allows you to have full control over what goes into them. Following a gluten free or dairy free or vegan or low sugar diet? You can easily swap out suggested ingredients to suit your needs (see Substitutions at the bottom of the page). Homemade baked good can also be a very thoughtful gift for friends and family. This week, we are challenging ourselves to bake tasty snacks with only the ingredients in our pantry. Join us as we make one of our favourite easy recipes – banana muffins!
Pantry-staple Banana Muffins
Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Optional: 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, nuts (walnuts or pecans are best) or coconut
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line or oil one muffin tin (for 12 muffins).
2. Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl until mostly smooth.
3. Add sugar, egg and oil to bananas. Mix.
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Carefully mix until just incorporated. Add in optional ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
6. Evenly scoop into muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Remove muffins from tin and place on cooling rack. Try not to eat them directly out of the oven, they will be hot!
Substitutions:
1 egg -> 1/4 cup vegetable oil OR 1/4 cup applesauce OR 1 tbsp ground flax or chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour -> any whole wheat or gluten free flour
Check out our blog for more information on Nutrition and Home Cooking here.
Go to the Food Network’s website for plenty more easy baking recipes!
