No, these muffins won't make you jump for joy or heighten your performance at the gym, but they are incredibly delicious when baked well. I'm calling them "Jumping Muffins" because that's just what they did. They jumped right out of the pan and onto the oven rack, bottom of the oven, oven door, and, of course, the floor of my kitchen. Because the muffins were hot from baking, their jumping routine caused them to squish... and squash. And loose their peanut topping. And some just generally fell apart. What happened that caused the muffins to "jump"? An earthquake? Tornado? Space aliens? Ravaging Huns? Special ingredients? Nope. Of course not. I bought a new nonstick pan, which, because I'm a klutz and the pan was heavy, I banged against the rack as I pulled the muffins from the oven. Yep, that pan sure is "nonstick" all right. The little baby muffins leapt all over, and I said some very bad words that I am happy my son did not hear his mother say. My husband, in response to my "help!", came into the kitchen and rescued the muffins that had fallen to the floor (I gave them to the birds/squirrels later, telling my husband, "no, you are not taking those in to work!").
After turning off the oven, I scooped up the muffins that had jumped into the bottom of the fiery pit. My husband, who was hungry, stuffing broken muffins into his mouth (I hope none that were on the floor) and proclaiming them, "really good," vetoed my plan to throw the whole batch into the trash. After I calmed down and segregated the non-jumping (about half had remained in the pan) from the jumping muffins, I tried some jumping muffin pieces, which had, of course, lost all calories in the jumping process. Ummm. The muffin pieces were pretty good. Moist, warm, with hints of banana mixed with peanut butter and cocoa. Elvis probably would have liked them. I may have to try out my new pan again. I just hope I can keep the muffins in the pan the next time around. If you'd like to try your luck with your own "jumping muffins," see the recipe below. In addition to being quite good, the muffins are great for breakfast or a snack. Oh, and scroll to the bottom of the recipe if you'd like to see a picture of the "jumping muffins."
Jumping Muffins (Peanut Butter, Banana, Chocolate) -- Makes 24 Mini Muffins
1 cup of mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/2 cup of canola oil
1 cup of low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 cup of peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, your preference)
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Unsalted peanuts (optional)
In a large bowl, whisk together well the mashed bananas, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, sugars, peanut butter, and cocoa powder. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones just until everything is combined and no white streaks remain (don't overmix!). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat the wells of a 24-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon the batter into the muffin wells. Top each of the muffins with a few peanuts, if you'd like. Bake the muffins for 13-15 minutes or until barely firm to the touch. Let the muffins cool in the pan a few minutes before removing them to cool completely.
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