TWD: Lots of Ways Banana Muffins

This week’s TWD was chosen by Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities: lots of ways banana cake. I should start by thanking those of you who continue to stop by and visit me even though it’s been weeks since I’ve had time to properly check up on all that you’ve been up to over on your sites. I haven’t forgotten – my Google Reader swells with new posts every day and eventually, I will get to them. Soon, hopefully! This weekend Shane and I sprung for an iPad – because you can never have too many gadgets, right? I’m really excited about it actually, as it’ll allow me to convert the many hours I spend commuting on the train into more productive time, time spent blogging and visiting blogs and catching up on emails (without having to lug my much heavier laptop in every day).  So, with any luck, I’ll be back in business soon.  Can’t wait to see all of the posts I’ve missed!

But, back to the cake. As you can probably guess from the name, the recipe allows for lots of variations and substitution so you can use what you have on hand and customize the recipe to fit your tastes. Although Dorie recommended making a layer cake with the batter, I went a slightly different route. I halved the recipe and made muffins – I wound up with 12 of them. Along with the bananas, I decided to add some chopped, dried apples.  The apples added a bit of texture and just a hint of apple flavor thoughout my muffins.  Yes, I keep calling them muffins, not cupcakes. I chose not to frost them so I could convince myself they were muffins and eat them for breakfast this week.  And oh, were they ever good muffins!  They’re light and fluffy, moist and loaded with banana flavor.  This recipe is definitely one I’ll repeat over and over again – next time I want to go the cupcake route and top them with my favorite peanut butter icing. 

Thanks to Kimberly for hosting this week! You can find the recipe on her site or on pages 204-205 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.