Banana Chocolate Bit Muffins #MuffinMonday

Some people have an old boy network or even an old girl network.  I have an expat network!  And there is nothing more knowledgeable, helpful or friendly than the expat network.  Our fingers spread wide in every pie, in every town, in all the world.  Are you moving to Houston, London, Paris, Perth, Sydney, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Quito, Austin, Athens, Mexico City, Nashville, Boston, Aberdeen, Lagos, San José, Taipei, Shanghai, Mumbai, Caracas, Copenhagen, Berlin or Stavanger, just to name a few cities?  I know someone there who will help.  Often more than one someone!  Ah, yes, good people.  I can find out where to get decent chocolate chips and Extra Chunky Jif peanut butter in most cities of this world at the drop of a quick email or new Facebook status.  The expat network is also invaluable when you are moving.  When we found out about the transfer to Dubai, the first thing I did was send out a query on housing.  In which areas should I look?  And why?  The responses were immediate and thoughtful, taking into account our empty nest status and Boxer dog who needs a yard.  So, far from being a strange city, Dubai was already well-mapped in our heads before the first appointment was made.  You can’t buy worldwide expertise like that!  The point of all this is that we found a home and from (probably) mid November you will be seeing photos from a whole new kitchen.

Meanwhile, we are still baking muffins in Cairo!  This week’s Muffin Monday choice is from Nigella Lawson’s Kitchen but you can also find it online, right here.  I decided to leave off the cocoa powder and add mini baking bits of semi-sweet chocolate.  If you are wondering why I have just brown, yellow, blue and orange, I’ll tell you.  Last December a dear friend generously stepped into the role of Christmas party planner for her son’s fourth grade of about 100 children.  She needed decorations for cupcakes or cookies or something so we sat and picked all the red and green ones out of my bag of baking bits for her project.  Because, when you love someone, you will even give her your imported red and green baking bits.  True story.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup or 225g flour (Life is so much easier with a scale!  You should get one.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 very ripe bananas (10 oz or 285g by weight when peeled)
1/2 cup or 125 ml light vegetable oil
2 medium eggs
1/2 cup or 100g packed soft dark brown sugar
1/2 cup plus extra for sprinkling on top or about 100g semi sweet baking bits

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your muffin tin or line it with paper cups.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together.  Make sure to mash out any lumps of brown sugar.

Mash the bananas with a fork then add in the eggs and the oil.   Mix until thoroughly combined.

Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ones until they are just mixed.

Add in the half cup of chocolate baking bits and fold again gently.

(Small side note:  M&M have stopped making the semi-sweet baking bits so these were actually ordered from NutsOnline in a five-pound bag.  I have started a Facebook campaign to get M&M to reconsider this decision.  If you have a moment, go on over to the Facebook page and follow the link in About to send Mars North America a message on their website.  Thank you!)

Divide the batter between the muffin cups.  Decorate with the remaining baking bits.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Allow to cool slightly in the muffin tin before removing to a wire rack.

Enjoy!

And, for those of you who care:  Here is our new house.  Assuming the paperwork goes through without a hitch.

Banana Bacon Peanut Butter Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

The Elvis sandwich in muffin form, these banana, bacon Peanut Butter Chip muffins will delight anyone who loves their sweets with just a little hint of salt and smoke. These are so good!

Today for the first time, I am joining a group of bloggers who make muffins every week for a celebration called Muffin Monday!  We get a specific muffin recipe, in this case, an easy to follow banana espresso chocolate chip one from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking and we are allowed to adapt it to our preferences.  At least, that’s the way I understand the rules so I hope I got it right.  I would hate to be booted out just as soon as I’ve gotten in.

I am not a big fan of coffee flavored things, except ice cream (well, and actual coffee – can’t live without that) and the chocolate banana combo didn’t do anything for me either, so I thought, what can I substitute for these two flavors, while still keeping the essential banana-ness of the muffin?

So bacon is the new espresso and peanut butter chips replace the chocolate ones. Truth be told, the bacon flavor is subtle, just four pieces in 12 muffins, but it adds a smoky, salty, sweet depth to the traditional banana-peanut butter sandwich combination.

Banana Bacon Peanut Butter Chip Muffins

If you are thinking the combination is odd, I offer you the review of my 66-year-old, relatively unadventurous-eater uncle, after eating a muffin without being told the ingredients: “That was really good!” Couldn’t have said it better myself.  To his credit (and as further proof of deliciousness) he continued to eat them with gusto despite being taken aback when I told him about the bacon. Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Ingredients 4 very ripe medium-sized bananas 1/2 cup or 115g sugar
1/4 cup (firmly packed) or 50g light brown sugar (I used dark brown for a deeper flavor.)
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup or 120ml whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups or 187g all-purpose flour
4 slices of streaky bacon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 ounces or 170g peanut butter chips

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Spray your 12-hole muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or line with muffin liners. Mix together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg with your beaters.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, fry your bacon strips until very crispy.  Drain on paper towels and then chop them finely with a sharp knife.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and three-quarters of the bacon.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.  Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined.

Fold in the peanut butter chips.

Distribute the batter between the 12 cups.

Sprinkle the remaining bacon bits on the top of each.

Bake in the center of the oven for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack.

Enjoy!