Banana Coffee Cake Crumb Muffins

I have been craving coffee cake every morning for a few weeks.  I sit at the kitchen table, look down at my coffee and then curse myself for not being one of those moms that wake up at 4am to make fresh pastries.  Wait, are those moms a thing?  Does that exist?  Or am I thinking of Donna Reed?  Well, I want to be her, in black-and-white with her glowing skin and her freshly made morning coffee cake.  For now, I am the mom that puts a movie on for her older kids, shoves popcorn in front of them and says, watch this while I bake muffins for my mommy/baby play group.  

I had some old bananas laying around (lying around? I still don't know) so my coffee cake craving decided to include them, and bravo bananas, bravo!  You turned these muffins into something special.  Moist and slightly sweet with a crunchy, buttery, cinnamon-y crumb topping.

I bet Donna Reed would have baked these muffins.  I bet she would have laced them with Xanax.       

Banana Coffee Cake Crumb Muffins

Makes 16 muffins

(Printable Recipe)

For Muffins:

4 T unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 ripe bananas 

For Crumb Topping:

2/3 brown sugar

2/3 cup flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

5 T unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.  To make muffins, in a large bowl mix together butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until creamy.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In one more small bowl, mash ripened bananas and stir in buttermilk.  With mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined, then add 1/2 of the banana mixture.  Continue this until everything is combined, ending with the flour.  Using an ice cream scoop, place batter into muffin tins lined with wrappers (or greased with butter).  To make topping, combine dry ingredients in a bowl and stir.  Add melted butter and stir together with a fork until mixture begins to clump together.  Sprinkle over muffins, pressing down lightly so crumbs stick to batter.  Bake for 24 minutes, or until edges start to brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

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Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yesterday, I was all set to make Strawberry Muffins, and then this happened...

Oh, hello chocolate chips!  Listen, I could blame being almost 34 weeks pregnant all day long, but the truth is, I would add chocolate chips to almost anything, pregnant or not.  You guys know that.  You know me.  You get me.  You read my blog, even though I have a chocolate problem.  I love you.

While Etta and I were in MN, the boys hit up an eastern Long Island farmers market and got 2 pints of delicious, sweet, juicy strawberries.  We've been munching on them daily, but I wanted to make something with the majority of them so I turned to an eastern Long Islander, Ina, and her Strawberry Muffin recipe.  Makes sense, right?  They were wonderful, and I only made a few alterations.  Adding 1 cup of mini chocolate chips, of course, and omitting the cinnamon (I was out) and adding the zest of 1 lemon instead.  Then I sent all of them to work with Carson because otherwise they would all end up in my gigantic belly.          

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#VoiceTailgate: Mini Pancake Muffins + Bloody

How are you guys enjoying the #VoiceTailgate so far?!  The first live show was incredible, and the range of talent this season seems immense.  My five-year-old declared every performance his favorite, and I'm with him.  I can't pick a front runner!  But I can pick a favorite Season 6 coach... OF THE FEMALE SEX.  Bam!  I'm clever.  So, since tonight's #VoiceTailgate is centering around her, let's talk about Shakira...

What's not to love?  She's insanely talented, beautiful (girl crush!), extremely smart (Adam is correct when he says she speaks better English than Blake), and very, very sweet.  But I think my favorite thing about her is that she's a down-to-earth mom.  When we first met, she was pregnant, and my daughter Etta was teeny, tiny.  She was so curious about what first-time motherhood would be like, and from what I've seen around the set, she's mastering being a parent along with everything else in her life.  Milan is THE cutest, and we may or may not be arranging his marriage to Etta already.

Chubby ring finger...

So these easy-to-make pancake muffins are dedicated to Milan and his mom.  Bite-size and versatile (I added chocolate chips to mine but you could throw in blueberries, mashed bananas, nuts, etc).  Dipped in maple syrup, it makes a great appetizer for any time of day.  Especially if you're pairing it with Carson's famous Bloody Mary (see below).  In this case, the perfect after-dinner snack that your entire family will love.  They will be served at Etta and Milan's wedding in 30 years...      

     

Milan's Mini Pancake Muffins
(Makes 36 muffins)
Printable Recipe

2 cups pancake mix (I used Bisquick)
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Maple syrup, for dipping

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a large bowl, whisk together the pancake mix, eggs, milk and vanilla.  Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

Lightly grease a mini muffin tin.  Spoon batter into each tin, filling about 3/4 of the way full.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges have just started to brown.  Let cool slightly, and then serve with maple syrup for dipping.

Since we're sort of on the breakfast thing... let's talk about Carson's Bloody Mary's.  They are just as much a part of the Voice backstage as Milan's toys or Blake and Miranda's pets or Adam's tiny shirts.  Carson's trailer is like a Costco for Bloody Mary ingredients, and people need only pop their head in and nod and he knows what to do.  Luckily, he loves doing it, and it's not unusual for him to make 20 or so before each show.  The best part is, they are good whether you add vodka or not (although he might disagree).  And I should know, because I'm very, very pregnant and I demand virgin ones often.

    

Carson's Bloody Mary
Printable Recipe

Ice
Vodka (optional)
Bloody Mary mix (we like Mr. & Mrs. T's original mix)
Worcestershire sauce
Prepared horseradish
Tabasco
Bread & butter pickle juice
Fresh lemon juice
Celery salt
Black pepper
Garnishes: green olives, pepperoncinis, pickles, celery stalk, beef jerky, sharp cheddar cheese

Fill a tall glass with LOTS of ice.  Add vodka if desired (Carson pours a generous amount, at least halfway full).  Fill the rest of the cup with the Bloody Mary mix.  Add 4-5 shakes of Worcestershire sauce, about 1/2 tablespoon of horseradish, a few shakes of tabasco, a splash of pickle juice and a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  Mix well, either with a cocktail shaker or by transferring back and forth in between two glasses.  Top with celery salt, black pepper and garnish with desired toppings.

As you can see... they are "famous."  Make your own tonight and post your photos on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram using hashtag #VoiceTailgate!

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Mini Vegan Banana Muffins

Do you believe in the universe trying to tell you something?  Listen to my story...

Once Upon A Time, I agreed to bake 100 mini muffins for Jack's preschool snack.  There are roughly 80 kids, and some like seconds.  In true Siri fashion, I left this project to the very last minute (like every term paper in college), and had planned to bake after my kids fell asleep last night.  Promptly, at bedtime, the power went out.  Carson was at work, Jack was freaking out, and I looked like this...

  

What, you don't keep a headband flashlight on your nightstand like Carson does?  p.s. What are those four freaky dots coming out of my neck???  I look like I'm waiting for my spaceship.  Anyway, I wake up at 2am to a screaming baby I'm attempting to sleep train, and it's still black outside.  I start to panic.  I begin to imagine 80 kids coming at me like walking zombies, begging for their snack.  I cannot let this happen.  And then, at 3am, the power comes back on!  I dance in bed!  I set my alarm for 5am.  Oh, and the baby wakes up two more times.  

So it's early, and I'm drinking a pot of coffee.  I start to make Mini Vegan Banana Muffins using this bread recipe (which I doubled, cooking the muffins for 13 minutes) because a few of the kids are allergic to dairy and nuts.  I decide to look at the allergy list one more time and I see one little girl who is allergic to cinnamon.  I have already put cinnamon in the batter.  I THROW THE BATTER AWAY and thoroughly scrub everything to remove any cinnamon residue.  I curse cinnamon allergies.  I drink more coffee.  I begin again.  I'm about to pour the soy milk in only I look, and I see that I didn't buy soy milk - I bought almond milk.  Almond milk, for kids with severe nut allergies.  CURSE EVERYTHING!!!!!!  I google "alternatives to almond milk" and google tells me "soy milk" thanks for NOTHING GOOGLE.  So I use water in place of milk.  I think these muffins are going to taste like rat poison and all the kids will make up mean songs about Jack D's Mommy.  I plug along anyway...

Guess what?  They were freaking delicious.  Like, really, really good.  Oh and I added dairy free chocolate chips because I want all the kids to make up nice songs about Jack D's Mommy.  

I think the lesson here, that the Universe is trying to teach me, is to quit trying to be Super Mom.  It's okay that I shower rarely and brush my hair even less and drop off my son at school wearing the same outfit everyday and eat chocolate chips every night by the handful.  It's okay!  It's okay.  It's okay? 

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