Banana Oatmeal Muffins

It's amazing to me just how many kitchen gadgets exist out there. I admit, I'm a bit of a collector myself but my lack of space (storage, counter, etc.) really limits me to how many kitchen tools I can justify buying. That is, until my brother and his girlfriend drop in to town and present me with this guy:
His name is Marshall Green. His official job title is potato masher but his inaugural assignment in my kitchen was mashing nanners for these delicious muffins.
Start by sifting dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder & salt).
Here are some of the other things you'll need. They all happen to be staples in my fridge & pantry. These things make your house smell so good.
As I was beginning to mash the bananas w/ a fork, I thought to myself, there's gotta be a better way to do this. I looked up, saw Marshall and heard the angelic choir music going off. Marshall! Of course.

Ey mon, I'm op for dee job.

Yeah, mon.
I approve.
You show those bananas who's boss, Marshall.He seems to be enjoying it.Mission accomplished.
Hey, mon. You've got some butter and banana bits in your dreads.
Perfection!
Mix into flour mixture slowly until just combined. Mix eggs (room temperature, extra large), milk and vanilla extract.
Mix into flour/butter mixture until just combined. Make sure you scrape the bottom just in case there is any annoying dry ingredient stuff at the bottom.
Diced bananas. I love biting into banana chunks in the muffin.
Throw in.
Oats, coconut & walnuts go in too.
There's that spatula - it's there to FOLD this stuff into the mixture. So as not to mash the bananas. You want chunks. Not more mashed nanners, or else we would've just let Marshall do his job on all the bananas.Lined muffin tins, I made a combo of both regular and mini muffins.
Then I got so excited to get these in the oven I forgot to take a picture of the filled tins, whoops.
Anywho. Fill to the top, sprinkle w/ your garnish of choice. If you use different sized tins, make sure you put the small ones on the outside, logistics people.
Muffins rising..
I love watching baked goods rise in the oven.
Oooh! Lookey here.
15 minutes later.. A-dorable.
So cute! I want to pinch it's little muffin cheek! If muffins had cheeks.


Big brother muffins.
These were insanely good. I hope you make them and let me know about it. It's my Christmas wish.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

3 c. flour
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks, melted & cooled)
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2.5 very ripe bananas, mashed
1.5 very ripe bananas, diced
2 eggs, room temp
3/4 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. walnuts, chopped
1 c. sweetened shredded coconut
1 c. rolled oats, extra for sprinkling

Preheat oven at 350 F. Melt butter and set aside to cool. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder & salt. Peel bananas and mas into butter. In an electric mixer, stir dry ingredients until blended. On low speed, slowly add in butter/banana mixture. Be careful not to over mix. With a fork, mix together eggs, milk & vanilla until blended. Slowly add to flour/butter mixture until just combined.

Fold in walnuts, coconut and oats. Spoon into muffin tins lined with paper cups and sprinkle with oats or raw sugar (or both!) for decoration. Regular and mini muffin tins were filled to the top or maybe just below the top of the liner.

Regular muffin size yields 18-20 muffins, bake for about 25-30 minutes. I baked for 25 minutes and turned the oven off to let the tops brown for 5 minutes.

Mini muffin size yields about 108 mini muffins. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

They're ready when a toothpick inserted down the middle come out clean.

Enjoy!