Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The Best Banana Bread Muffins Ever {Without Dirtying a Single Dish}


I don't know how to explain to you how amazingly perfect this banana bread is. It's moist. It's sweet. The texture is flawless. It's quick. It's easy. And guess what the best part of all is. 

IT DOESN'T DIRTY A SINGLE DISH.

Sorry for the caps. I just... really hate dishes.


I haven't always had this perfect recipe. You see, it's my grandma's creation, perfected over decades. Only problem is, Grandma doesn't believe in measuring cups. 

I think we must be related. 

Whenever I called her for the recipe, she would say stuff like, "Add flour until it looks about like the consistency of ketchup, or maybe a little thinner."

Well, that's all fine and good if you know what "ketchup or maybe a little thinner" looks like, and I can't blame her because if I didn't force myself to write down measurements every recipe on this blog would look like that. But...


I want my banana bread to be EXACTLY like Grandma's. 

So, one day, I went to Grandma's house, got out her recipe, and made her sit down and translate it with me. 

"I guess I usually use 3 bananas so you can cross out that 1 1/2 cups"

"Well, this says 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, but of course I add at least a teaspoon."

"Oh, I usually do about 1 cup of flour unless my bananas are extra big."

And now... the secret of the of the most perfect banana bread in all the land is MINE.


To make this banana bread even more perfect, I make it in a big plastic bag so I don't have to dirty a single dish or a spoon. The only things you have to dirty are one measuring cup and one measuring spoon. 

And if you're Grandma, you wouldn't have to dirty anything.


You can then snip the corner of the bag and squirt it right into the pan. Grandma and I sometimes use this pan which we both have which is a very non-standard 10 1/4 x 3 5/8 x 2 5/8  inches. If you happen to have this pan too, it takes about 45 minutes to bake. Grandma also lines it with tin foil so you don't have to clean the pan!


Sorry about this picture. Boots was the hand model and as you may or may not know, 8-year-old boys have a hard time holding still long enough for you to get a chance to focus the camera.
The Best Banana Bread Muffins Ever
Makes about a dozen muffins

3 brown bananas (1 cup mashed)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour*
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
 1 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze (optional):
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk or lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Get out a 1/2 measuring cup and a 1/4 teaspoon (these will be all you need to measure your ingredients).
In a large Ziploc bag, mash the bananas. Add the eggs, seal the bag, and shake and squish until combined. Add the sugar and mix well. Dump in the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Before zipping and mixing them all the way in, mix them together a little with your measuring spoon. Now add the oil** and vanilla and shake and squish until well combined.
Snip the corner of the bag and squirt the batter into a lined muffin tin (if you don't want to clean the pan, line it with tin liners so the grease doesn't come through). Don't make the hole very big at all because the batter is very runny. Pinch the corner between each muffin.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
To make the glaze, just mix together the powdered sugar and milk or lemon juice and spread over cooled muffins.
*Can't have flour? Check out the gluten free recipe here.
**I know it's not standard to add the oil last, but that's the only way I can use the same measuring cup since all the other ingredients you have to measure are dry. It works anyways.



40 comments:

  1. It looks easy ! And I have a question .. Can i use apple instead of banana ? because i don't like banana :(

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    1. I bet you could use apple sauce! :-)

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  2. I don't think you would be able to use apple, because apples don't smash up like bananas and they contain more liquid. You could probably use breadfruit instead though since it is similar.

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  3. Made these this morning. Perfect recipe for a non-baker like me!

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  4. Will puréed pumpkin work as well? I want to make these tonight for Halloween :)

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  5. I made these today and they were delish! I almost didn't get to try one since my husband and daughter kept sneaking them. I used milk and added a drop of almond extract in the glaze since I didn't have any lemon and it was really tasty. Thanks for the easy recipe!

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  6. I only have two small ripe bananas but I'm going to try this recipe anyway! Sounds delicious and only two dirty dishes is my type of recipe :o)

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  7. Used this recipe to rid my brown bananas. I love it as well as my husband! I added about a cup of crushed walnuts and substituted the frosting for honey. I saved this recipe for all my future banana bread cravings. Be sure to thank your grandma on my behalf!

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  8. Ohhhh my gosh I made these this morning for my 4 sons and they devoured them (and so did I) :))) sooo yummy and moist!!!

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  9. My six year old enjoyed making these. We opted to use coconut oil instead of veg oil and left off the icing all together. They were great... AND MY GIRLS HAVE NEVER LIKED BANANA BRAG. This was moist, nice flavor. Thanks.

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  10. Im baking these right now! Fab

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  11. The muffins were wonderful. It was too sweet for me so next time will use only 1/2 cup sugar.

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  12. I made them and they were awesome.

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  13. Definetly the best banana muffins ever! Light and fluffy and not overly sweet. I had 3 pretty large bananas so then recipe yielded 20 muffins for me...I didn't use the glaze though, I don't think it's necessary and would probably make them too sweet :)

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  14. Made these last night...having a hard time not eating them all in one sitting!!! I did add cinnamon applesauce (eyeballed it) since I only had two smaller bananas. Turned out super moist, dense and not a single bit shorted on banana flavor! And my kids loved the mixing part!

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  15. It's a little too sweet so I would probably cut the sugar down to maybe 1/2 cup but otherwise it was yummy and moist.

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  16. I made thesr for my sons' science and math assignment, I homeschool them and we LOVE them. My children are ages14, 12, and 8. We willvkeep this recioe for future baking...Thanks for sharing your grandmas recipe...

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  17. Making these for the first time. Love how easy it mixes up in the bag! .... waiting on the oven right now! Can't wait to taste them!!

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  18. Just out off the oven! Delicious! Didn't put the crossing on them. Just a little butter. Easy and fast, and easy clean up!

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  19. Mine are in the oven as I type but the batter was yummy. The only issue I had was the bag kept popping open and making a mess.

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  20. I followed the recipe it gave and cooked them for about 18 mins then another 3 minutes the inside was still Mushy and the bottoms were starting to burn

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  21. Came out lovely and perfect. Everyone loved it!! Thanks for the great recipe. Love no dishes. Come up with more ziploc recipes!!

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  22. These are awesome & I love not having a mess to clean! Thanks for the recipe!

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  23. Kudos to your grandmother. These are delectable!!

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  24. My daughter and I opted to make a 2 layer cake with the lemon juice glaze.. It turned out amazing.. With myself, fiancée, 3 teenagers and a toddler in the house, it was gone within the hour.. Absolutely amazing!!

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  25. Wow these are good. Light, moist, perfect balance of flavors.

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  26. Made them this morning!amazing

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  27. Very good! Made these last night for "to-go" this morning! My kids loved them and my husband's work crew couldn't get enough! Thank you for the recipe!

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  28. Oh my goodness, such delicious banana muffins! My son said, please make sure you're muffins aren't dry this time. So I searched and found your recipe. All my kids loved it! Even my two-year-old who always just takes two or three bites and says she's done. She is eating her THIRD muffin! Thank you for sharing :-)

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  29. These were so much fun and perfect to make together with my kids! They were delicious! Thanks for the recipe! :)

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  30. Made these today but only had 2 bananas so I pureed an apple with it (I also added an extra egg)... totally yummy!

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  31. I've been making these for a while now. I've never done it with the Ziploc bag, though. Right now I'm making them with pumpkin puree and applesauce (the pumpkin is kinda thick) for a 2 layer cake. I made pumpkin muffins 2 days ago for work and every body loved it. Btw, I use half whole wheat flour and only half the sugar. This is a great go-to recipe for all kinds of variations! Thanks!

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  32. Super moist & not too sweet! Delicious even without the glaze! I'm gonna add walnuts & macadamia nuts next time. Thanks Yammie!

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  33. I've modified it to make it healthier and I make mini-muffins with the following modifications. I also add blueberries or apple bits as a topping before I bake them. My little girl loves them!
    3 brown bananas (1 cup mashed)
    2 eggs
    2/3 cup honey
    1/2 cup flax flour
    1/4 cup ground chia seed
    1/4 cup ground hemp hearts
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    3/4 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 cup coconut oil
    1 teaspoon vanilla

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  34. Omg thank you so muchhhh for this recipe! I made a batch and froze it. Every day I take one out and it de-frosts in ny lunchbox!

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  35. juliehennessythenurse!January 22, 2015 at 10:30 PM

    We love this recipe and I substitute apple sauce for the oil. Healthier,moist but not gooey!

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  36. O ya o ya. Made these guys gluten free and threw self control to the dogs instead of the leftover muffins. There is something specially addictive about these muffins. Thanks for the great recipe and blog!

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  37. Great recipe! Came out moist even though I forgot anout the 1st batch and over baked them. My only issue is that the dry ingredients didn't mix completely so there are chunks / light spots through out that are just cooked powder. Next time I will make the extra dish and use a wisk.

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  38. These turned out great, but next time I will cut back on the oil a bit or substitute applesauce.

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  39. By far the very best, banana muffins to date, and I have tried a good many recipes, and keep coming back to this one. Thank you for sharing.♥️♥️♥️

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