banana muffins

as requested by my friend stephanie. i adapted the recipie from james beard. i've tried others but i keep coming back, because its so versitle. and easy. be creative! i've even used hershey's syrup and had great results.

1/2 stick butter
1c brown sugar OR 1/2c brown sugar & 1/4c honey
2eggs
1 1/2c mashed bananas or pumpkin or applesauce or zucchini or carrots or crushed pineapple
nuts and/or chocolate chips
1T pie spice
1/2t baking soda
(salt) (i use salted butter so i omitted this)
vanilla
1 1/2 c all purpose flour (mine is 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 unbleached)

preheat oven to 350*

cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. add eggs. mix well. then add bananas. (i let my mixer do my mashing for me) add nuts and chips, then spices and baking soda. finally add flour. mix just until moist batter- dont overmix.

pour into loaf pan or lined muffin pans. for loafs bake about 45mins then check for doneness. cover if necessary. muffins take about 15-20 mins. let cool before removing from pans.

for my carrot & pineapple i used 2t ginger and 1t pie spice. it looked to be about 1 healthy cup of shredded carrots and 1/3c drained pineapple. i used half the sugar and upped the baking soda to a full teaspoon.

also when doubling i only use 3 large eggs. and the banana recipie took 2 3/4c flour rather than the 3C called for.

enjoy your treats!!!