Beautiful Food

The sun is shining brightly.  Oh so yellow.  Oh so yellow.

The daffodils are blooming.  Oh so yellow.  Oh so yellow.

From muffins spring forth bananas.  Oh so yellow…. Wait, what?

Ok that was a pretty sad spring poem- and it didn’t even follow any poetic rules.  It’s neither a limerick nor a haiku, but English majors could all agree that they definitely could be song lyrics…perhaps?

Well, at least if you are a poet, you can nom on these muffins while you write.

Speaking of spring poems!  I have to share this darling note my friend in Denmark sent me.  This is the most exciting thing I get in the mail every year!  I can’t wait to open it.

Her family hosted me during a school choir tour and every year since 2002 she has sent me a hand-written poem about spring time on a paper cut-out in the style of Hans Christian Andersen’s famous artwork.  You can read more about his fantastic work here and here!   

These “secret snowdrop letters” are also known as gækkebrev, which is a Danish tradition!  Pressed snow-drop flowers, (the first to pop up in spring time) are tucked inside the note.

There is a cute blog I found about how to make them that you can read here!

Can anyone help translate this from Danish!?

I will put up a translation into this post as soon as I get it figured out.   To the googles!

Oh, and don’t you just love her handwriting!?  It’s like having a secret grandma far, far away.  So fun!

Now without further ado, I bring you the perfect banana chocolate chip muffin recipe to share for Easter brunch this Sunday!  Their moist, and tender texture and the flavorful banana will be sure to please.  Oh, and who doesn’t love chocolate chips!

 

You will need: 

1 muffin tin (regular or mini)

Large mixing bowl

Medium mixing bowl

An electric mixer or stand mixer

Wooden spoon

Cooking spray

Ingredients: 

• 2¼ cups flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 Tablespoons butter, softened
• ¾ cup baker’s sugar (super fine)
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 3 medium bananas, (about 1 cup) mashed (I usually use a fork)
• 1 cup low fat plain greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips (or walnuts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF

1. In your medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients and set aside.  (Flour, powder, soda, salt, cinnamon).

1. In the large bowl, using your electric mixer or the stand mixer, beat the sugars and the butter until creamed (light and fluffy).

1. Add the rest of the wet ingredients (bananas, yogurt, eggs, vanilla)  and beat on high until you have a nice thick batter.

It should be clinging to the whisk.

1. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (in the large bowl) and slowly stir with your wooden spoon until all are just combined.  Poor in the chocolate chip (or nuts) and gently stir with the spoon until they are evenly incorporated throughout the batter.

2. Coat the muffin tin with the cooking spray and spoon in the batter until about 3/4 full.

Don’t leave out this step! (Coating with spray) Or it may be hard to remove the muffins.

1. Bake at 350º F for 15-20 minutes or until tops are a light golden brown.  You may have to really watch them at the last few minutes to ensure they get done properly.

1. Take out muffin tin and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing.

Ps:  I also like to check the bottoms to see if they browned evenly.

Serve while warm (just after cooling) for the best results!

These muffins are easily storable in a tupperware or they’re freezable, too!  But who are we kidding, they probably won’t last long.  Eat them up while they’re fresh!

I loved having these will a glass of almond milk.   Yumm0!

 

Enjoy!

 

-K