Banana oat muffins

Today it's National Banana Bread Day.  I could tell you that I had this post planned out on purpose, but I'm totally not a liar.  We'll call it kismet instead.

Tara finished the Pumpkin Cranberry muffins from last week and I wanted to make another healthy muffin.   I wanted to try something a little different and since we had bananas on the counter that were getting past their prime, banana bread muffins were a no-brainer.

I've recently discovered how wonderful bananas and cloves are together.  There's only a touch of it, so you don't actually taste it (as in, it doesn't taste like Christmas).  Feel free to up the amount if you want the flavor a bit more aggressive or present.  Don't skimp on the cloves if you have some. Also, you can add cinnamon, nutmeg, or ground ginger if you'd like, but I found just the pinch of cloves and touch of vanilla were more than enough of an accent to the banana flavor.

These muffins are surprisingly light and tender.  I think it's because of the 2 eggs (the original recipe only had 1).  They're also very buttery, which is odd because there is no butter, whatsoever.  I've had this happen before with other banana breads, but I'm still curious about it.  Has anyone else noticed buttery banana bread when there was no butter?

Banana Oat Muffins
Adapted from allrecipes

Yield 14 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose, whole wheat)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8+ teaspoon (generous pinch) cloves
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (or other non-flavored oil like grapeseed)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Heaping 1 cup mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
• 1/2 - 2/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional, but highly recommended)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.  Grease muffin cups or line with liners.

Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, and cloves.

In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the mashed banana, and combine thoroughly. Pour the flour mixture into the banana mixture and stir a few times, until most of the powder is mixed. Fold in your nuts, if using, until everything is just combined.

Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 15 to 18 minutes.  Let cool in the muffin pan (although, I dare you not to be seduced by the amazing smell and eat one while warm).  Use a butter knife around each muffin to remove, if needed.

Coconut red pepper popcorn

Popcorn is a great, carbohydrate-rich snack (or meal) that is relatively easy to make at home.  You could toss a bag of PopSecret in the microwave, but you probably shouldn't because it's pretty bad for you, what with all the potentially toxic stuff they put into it.   Instead, you should go old school - even older than Jiffy Pop - I'm talking cooking it on the stove-top in a pan!  There's no need to buy any equipment and you probably already have everything you need.

I made some a while back and I cooked it with the popcorn oil we had in the cabinet; it was so disgusting, I had to throw it out.  I don't know if it went rancid or if it was because it was fake and oily tasting.  (I should add that I recently checked the ingredients of that nasty popcorn oil and - surprise, surprise - it was soybean oil.)  I promptly made a batch with butter which was sooooo delicious and yummy - mmmm, browned butter.  Unfortunately, it didn't love me back (cursed lactose intolerance).  I happened upon an article or blog post or something that discussed how movie theaters cook their popcorn in coconut oil.  I always have some around the house - makes a great moisturizer - so I tried a batch with the coconut oil; it was shockingly good!  

I'm not sure what exactly possessed me to try cooking the popcorn with red pepper flakes, but I am sure glad I did!  They give a good amount of heat, but they don't change the flavor.  Even Tara, who doesn't like hot or spicy foods, thinks it's good.  I've tried a kettle corn version with the red pepper flakes; it was unusual in a good way!

Coconut red pepper popcorn

This makes about 3 cups, which is what I consider to be a personal meal-size serving. You could scale up or down as needed.  Also, you can use any type of oil, but I prefer either coconut oil or butter.  You can sprinkle any number of seasonings on your popcorn to flavor it how you like, just wait until after cooking the popcorn.  I cook the red pepper flakes to release the oils.

Ingredients

• 1/4 popcorn kernels
• 1 1/2 Tb coconut oil or butter
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
• Salt, to taste

Directions

Place the oil in a decent-sized sauce pot (mine was 3 qt) and heat over medium.  Sprinkle the red pepper flakes in the oil and swirl around, making sure all the flakes are coated in oil.  Let cook a few minutes to release the oils from the flakes.  Pour the kernels into the pan, swirling around to make sure all the kernels are coated.  Put the lid on the pot leaving it slightly ajar.  You can shake the pot occasionally to move the kernels around.  (Be careful when putting your head directly above the pot; the red pepper oil is strong.)  Cook for about 10 minutes or until the popping slows significantly - when there is about 30 seconds between pops.  Don't worry about popping all the kernels because it's better to have a few unpopped kernels than burned popcorn.

Pour into a bowl and liberally salt (sprinkle, toss, sprinkle, toss) while still hot.