Banana Muffins - and They're Vegan (Almost)!

Just when I proclaim that I'm not a recipe blogger, I have a recipe for you! Two posts in a week? Semi-fancy pictures? What in the world is going on? See, I'm full of contradictions. I just quickly wanted to share a revelation with you. When I took cupcakes to my son's class for his birthday celebration, I wanted to make sure that everyone had a treat. There are two kids in his class who are vegan. I have always felt bad for them at celebrations when they have to sit there and watch everyone else eat cupcakes and other treats. I didn't have time to go all out with an elaborate vegan dessert creation, but I did have a couple of ripe bananas. Without a recipe, I mashed up the bananas and added some applesauce, oil and dry ingredients. For extra pizzazz, I dusted the tops with powdered sugar while they cooled. I called them banana cupcakes and everyone was happy. Even some of the non-vegan kids gobbled them up in lieu of the dairy laden salted caramel cream cheese muffins.

The banana muffin/cupcakes ended up turning out so tasty and moist, I decided to try and replicate them yesterday with a few ripe bananas I had. Oh my gosh, I think I'm going vegan (when it comes to banana muffins). They are so good! I know the word "vegan" may sound scary to some. Really, all it means is no eggs or dairy. Not a big deal. I decided that I can live without either in this recipe. I don't know how it happens, but they even have a buttery flavor. They are so easy to whip up with what you have on hand in your pantry. Let me confess, I should probably not be throwing around the word "vegan" as much as I am because this recipe contains honey. Depending how strictly one follows a vegan diet, honey is a no-no since it is made by animals. However, some vegans do eat raw, unprocessed honey for it's health benefits. If you are making these for a strict vegan, ask them their feelings on honey first.

I did not sugar the tops in this batch, but I did sprinkle pecans on half the batch just before baking. My favorite were the nutty ones, but my sons prefer the no-nut version. You could also sprinkle a few oats on top, or a cinnamon brown sugar topping. They are highly adaptable. And if you must, split one in half and butter it up!

Banana Muffins 

3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey*
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (plus maybe an extra teaspoon) water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork or potato masher. Stir in oil, applesauce, vanilla and honey. Add dry ingredients (sugar, oatmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt) followed by water. Stir until just mixed.

Spoon into muffin tin and sprinkle with nuts if desired. Bake for about 15 minutes. Edges should be slightly browned and tops nicely domed. Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack. Makes one dozen.

Tips and Tricks

• Use organic ingredients where possible for even more healthiness and no GMOs. In this recipe, I used organic everything except the oatmeal and vanilla.
• Whole wheat pastry flour is my best friend. I've found that it keeps baked goods nice and tender and doesn't impart too much of that "whole wheat flavor." Plus, it contains many more nutrients than plain white flour. Look in the health food section of a traditional grocery store or at Whole Foods or somewhere similar. You can use plain whole wheat flour as well, though it may yield a denser muffin. You can certainly sub with plain all-purpose flour if that's all you have.
• The honey in this recipe could easily be subbed for agave nectar or maple syrup for a strict vegan preparation.

Enjoy! If you try them, let me know how they turn out. I'm always happy to hear feedback.

Banana Pudding, Please

Summer and I don’t get along. I love being a Southerner most parts of the year – except for the three or four hottest months of the year. Although technically it’s still spring in Georgia, tomorrow’s record breaking high is supposed to be around 98 or 99 degrees. Quite literally hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement, I think. Well, I could go on and on about the unbearable heat, but I’ll focus my energies instead on happy summer eating. The thing I do love about summer is fresh vegetables, refreshing cold beverages, ice cream and fruity desserts.

One of these days I will write about something that doesn’t have sugar in it, but today I was presented with the opportunity to make one of my favorite summer time desserts. When life gives you an almost rotten bananas, make banana pudding. At least, that’s my motto and something I learned from a very young age. My mama and my Granny were masters at banana pudding. And I’m not talking the Jell-o Instant Pudding kind. In my mind, it is not true Southern banana pudding unless it is a homemade custard layered with bananas, vanilla wafers and topped with meringue. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve had some fabulous banana puddings made with cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, shortbread cookies, pound cake and, gasp, even Cool Whip and doctored up instant pudding mix. However, what I always come back to is good ol’ naner puddin.’ Or bananer puddin’ as my papa would say.

Banana pudding is full of contradictions. First of all, it’s not a pudding – it’s really a custard. It’s also a trifle – a classic British dish consisting of layers of cake or biscuits (cookies) and custard. The first banana pudding recipes appeared in the United States in the late 19th century, when bananas were still a newly imported tropical fruit. Early recipes consisted of simply custard and bananas. Around 1900, some genius (and I really do mean that) thought to incorporate Nabisco’s newly introduced Nilla Wafers. Nabisco printed banana pudding recipe on Nilla Wafer boxes for years – maybe they still do. (Confession: I used the off-brand which also had a banana pudding recipe printed on the box.)

Although enjoyed across the United States, somehow it has come to be thought of as a Southern dessert. The only thing I can figure is because Southern ports perhaps had first dibs on bananas coming in from Caribbean and South American growers. I imagine, too, that bananas would be cheaper in the South since transportation costs would be lower than shipping them further north. Also, there’s the British trifle connection and the fact that Southerners like their desserts on the sweeeeet side. Nothing gets much sweeter than banana pudding! However it came into being, Southerners have embraced and claimed banana pudding as our own. I even found a National Banana Pudding Festival in Hickman County, Tennessee!

Aside from a tall glass of sweet iced tea, nothing is more perfect on a hot summer day than a bowl of light and silky banana pudding topped with a fluffy meringue. Keep in mind that banana pudding is best the day you make it or the day after. I love it straight from the fridge, although it doesn’t look so appetizing after a while because the bananas turn dark. It can also get watery the longer it sits. So, make it and eat it up – which shouldn’t be too hard.

The recipe I’m sharing with you is my mom’s. I found it in a stash of forgotten recipes a few weeks ago while cleaning out a closet. When I was in college, I had her tell me how she made it as I wrote it down on a piece of purple paper. I was SO thrilled to find it because I feel like the banana puddings I have made in recent years have not measured up to those of my memories. She actually made her pudding in the microwave. I had been making it on the stove top, but I have to admit returning to “1980s microwave cookery” works in this case. You can kind of slow down and control the cooking process to prevent scalding. I made it today just like she instructed and the result – perfection. It was like she was here with me again, standing over my shoulder telling me to add a dash of salt or to be careful not to cook it too long so it doesn’t curdle. My boys helped me layer vanilla wafers – well, they mostly ate them – and for a little while we were all together.

Joyce’s Banana Pudding

½ cup sugar
2 heaping tbsp. cornstarch
Dash of salt
2 egg yolks
2 cups milk
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla (or more – give it a good splash)
bananas (I used two large ripe bananas)
vanilla wafer cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place sugar, cornstarch and a dash of salt in a microwavable mixing bowl. Separate two eggs. Set whites aside in a smaller mixing bowl. Add half of milk – combine all ingredients with a wire whisk. Add remaining milk and whisk again. Place in microwave for two minutes. Remove and whisk. Return to microwave again for two minutes. Remove, whisk and repeat microwaving in two minute intervals until the mixture thickens to an almost pudding –like consistency. This will be approximately 10 minutes. Remove warm pudding mixture from microwave and add butter and vanilla. Whisk until smooth – don’t worry if the pudding seems a little runny – it will get firm when cooled. Layer a casserole with vanilla wafers and banana slices. Pour half of pudding and layer again.

The bottom layer of bananas and vanilla wafers.

To make the meringue, beat the egg whites with 2 tbsp. of sugar and a splash of vanilla until it forms soft peaks. Spread on top of pudding and bake until lightly brown (about 8 minutes). Decorate as desired.