History Of Magic (in the kitchen)

For my HP Knitting/Crochet House Cup HOM homework we had to pick a character out of the books and creates something with them in mind. Wednesday I realized I had enough bananas to make lots and lots of banana bread:My family likes to eat bananas but we always have 1 or 2 that turn spotted and no one eats them. so I throw them in my freezer until I have enough to make some banana bread.(freezing them is great but they don’t look pretty, but they’re the best and when you unfreeze them there’s no need to mash them!) So I chose to channel Mrs. Weasly, Thursday Night and bake some banana bread/muffins for my HOM homework. I love Mrs. Weasly as she’s the ultimate mom. always caring for people In the books i mostly see her baking and cooking to feed the ones she loves. I relate to Mrs. Weasly that way. I’m always trying to feed my family and friends. Though for Mrs. W. she’s got to be constantly cooking with the huge family. But i’m sure magic helps a lot. My ultimate faves are the mocha double chocolate chip banana muffins in the front of the photo (texas sized if you please! you can actually see an star plate with one on it.. hot out of the oven yum yum) Just my way of feeding those I love and making out home more “homey” and really very burrow-ish with the cluttered counter.

After Turning in my homework i was asked to share the recipes sooo I did, and I thought I'd share here too. Like when I'm knitting, I've tweaked a few of the recipes and i’ll share the tweeks with you. each of the recipes also freeze well so after they’re cool throw them in a ziplock bag and freeze and unthaw when hungry. (in the microwave for 25-50 seconds and it’s like out of the oven)

Get your ingredients ready!

1st we have a recipe that I love and grew up with it’s from my Grandma’s It’s a banana bread recipe but i just threw it in my muffin stone and made muffins.
ps when i say texas sized muffins i mean the big ones b/c everything is bigger in texas.

Grandma Fran’s Banana Bread
yield: 2 loaves or 4 mini loaves (12 muffins and 2 texas sized muffins)
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease and flour pans.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c Flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c shortening or oil (i use oil)
1/2 c sugar or 1/3 c honey (i use honey)
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 c mashed bananas (3-4 bananas) I use the aforementioned freeze and thaw method so no mashing needed.
1/2 to 1 c chopped nuts (optional) i used walnuts. but it’s good with out nuts too

Mix all ingredients but nuts together alternated bananas with flour and shortening. (i just throw them in my kitchen aid and mix away) until all is moistened. add nuts and mix in. Fill your pans 3/4 the way full bake bread loaves for 1 hour adjust time for smaller loaves and muffins. a toothpick will come out clean when it is done and it looks a nice golden brown on top. cool and enjoy!

The second recipe I found a couple of years ago on the Internet but i don’t remember where and I didn’t have it written down so here you go.

Monkey Muffins
yield: 12 muffins and 8 texas sized muffins.
preheat oven to 375 F (last night i just used the 350 b/c i didn’t feel like playing)
spray and flour muffin tin

ingredients
1 1/2 c old fashioned oats (i almost never have these i just use the instant plain oatmeal that I have also when i made these last night i ran out of oatmeal so i added 1/4 c of wheat germ)
1 1/4 c whole wheat flout
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 Tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c sugar
1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbls) of melted unsalted butter (the real stuff)
3 eggs
2 banana’s mashed (gain the freezer thing but i used 3 bananas b/c that’s how many I had)
3/4 c milk
1/4 c veg oil.
1 c semi sweet chocolate chips (i forgot for my texas muffins b/c i was in muffin mode but they taste wonderful anyways but i remembered for the regular muffins)

Spread oats on baking sheet and toast for 10 min. (i almost always forget this step so it’s not important) Combine flours baking powder and salt in large bowl and stir in oats. In a separate bowl mix together sugar, butter, eggs, bananas, milk and oil until well blended. Add the egg mix to the flour mix and stir until the ingredients are moist and blended. (almost all recipes say this and i think it’s stupid getting 2 bowls dirty and i’m impatient so i just dump everything together and it all turns out fine) Fold in the chocolate chips (see if i followed the recipe i’d remember to do this)
scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins. about 3/4 the way full or if you have a large scoop just one scoop or 1/3 c measuring cup. (I sprinkled mine with some raw sugar for the sparkley top)
bake for 25-30 min until the tops spring back when pressed lightly or a toothpick comes out clean.
let cool for 5 min and then take out of tins. Enjoy! (these are good hot!)

and finally my fave of all fave’s muffins. they’re almost like a dessert but good for bfast! This is a heavily modified recipe from all recipes so i call it my OWN b/c i’ve changed so much.

Mocha Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Yield 12 muffins and 8 texas sized muffins
pre heat oven to 350 F and grease and flour muffin tins

Ingredients
1 c butter or 1/4 c oil and 1 c plain applesauce
1 c sugar
1 egg
3-4 ripe bananas (whatever you have on hand)
4 Tbls instant coffee dissolved in 1Tbls hot water (it’s like a syrup)
2-3 Tbls cocoa powder.
2 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c semis sweet chocolate chips (reserve the 1/2c for on top of muffins)

dump everything into your kitchen aid mixer bowl and mix away add the chocolate chips last. Put into your muffin tin about 3/4 the way full and top with reserved chocolate chips for that bakery look. Bake for 20-25 min. cool and enjoy!

Ok If you have any questions just ask. if not enjoy!