Browned Butter Banana Muffins

Happy 2013! Anybody break their resolutions yet? It's okay: this is a safe space. We won't judge you (much).

My resolutions? I'm going to try harder to update the blog on a regular basis: Wednesdays and Sundays. If I get into a rhythm where I can change it to three times a week, that'll be great, but for now, we're going to stick with twice.

I also want to try and write more. Just for me. I've recently been having weirdly vivid, disturbing dreams, and that always happens when I'm writer-blocked. I guess writing is like a siphon for all my weird ideas, and if I let it build up too much, my subconscious needs to deal with some of it before my brain implodes.

...My mind is a special place.

It's been hard to back into writing with all that happened the past year, especially with my gram's passing this summer during Camp NaNoWriMo. I found the novel I started that session, stopped mid-sentence when my dad called me to say I should come to the hospital. I finished that sentence recently, bawled my eyes out, and now my subconscious is telling me it's time to get back on the horse. I think that novel's the first I'm going to try and finish, because my gram would be yelling at me for abandoning it. (And in case you're wondering, it's about zombies and unicorns. I told you my mind was a special place.)

The rest is more of the usual. Eat better, exercise more, play some Just Dance in the morning before work so I'm in a good mood. Just me?

So I'm starting the New Year off right with a recipe that's yummy and decadent, while still being almost good for you.

...I said almost.

Egg free, whole wheat flour, bananas, and not a huge amount of sugar or butter, these muffins are so soft and moist, while still being dense and filling enough for a good breakfast. And browning the butter adds that little hint of decadence you wouldn't get otherwise.

And then I topped it with a streusel. Well, tried to. I'm kind of streusel incompetent. It just kind of melted on top (which was still super yummy). I tried to fix it in the recipe, but if you don't use my streusel, I won't be insulted. But that extra bit of brown-sugary sweetness on top is exactly what these muffins need to take them from okay to out of this world.

Browned Butter Banana Muffins{Printable Version}
Yield: 12 muffins


Ingredients
For the streusel:
½ cup all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. cold butter, cut in chunks
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon

For the muffins:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup sugar
1½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
3 bananas, mashed
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
Prepare the streusel: Mix the flour, sugar, and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Cut in the butter, or
rub it in with your fingertips, until the mixture looks like small peas. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the muffins: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.
Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the butter is a light golden brown. Remove from heat and
let cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Mix in the bananas, vanilla, and browned butter until fully incorporated. Divide the batter evenly
between 12 muffin cups, and top liberally with the streusel. Bake 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick
inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Recipe by Kim

Homemade Gummies & The Year in Review

2012 is almost at it's close. I can't say that I'm going to miss it. It's been a rough year for me, for my family, for my neighbors, and for the world, I think. There were a lot of tragedies this year, too many to think on. And no series 3 of Sherlock. Exactly how much to you expect me to endure, Steven Moffat? There are only so many Reichenbach theories I can handle.

But the world didn't end, proving that the Mayans just got tired of making their calendar (although we did have some epic storming on Dec. 21st, proving that Mother Nature is the ultimate troll), so here's to hoping that 2013 is a much better year. And I do not want to hear anything about 13 being an unlucky number. Because it's not. It's a baker's dozen. Which is 1+ a dozen. Which is like getting one extra. Which is awesome.

I made a collage. Because collages are cool

Here are your top 10 favorite posts from my first full year of blogging:

1. Green Tubular Peyote Bracelet
2. White Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
3. Dark Chocolate Dreams Cupcakes
4. Mush Pie (Cookies & Cream Mousse Pie)
5. Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie
6. S'mores Icebox Cake
7. Cookie Dough Truffles
8. Vampire Fang Cupcakes
9. Pumpkin Pie Icebox Cake
10. Cherry Limeade and Lemon Lime Ice Pops

The most pinned on Pinterest was Cookie Dough Truffles.

You guys with your mad Google skills never failed to keep me entertained with your search terms. Here are some of my favorites:

• "Why does the Doctor love bananas?" Because of my banana strawberry milkshake muffins, apparently
• "What is a Whedonite?" Thaaaaaaat's me!
• "Cheesy jokes" This searcher and I should be friends
• "Homemade gifts for Whovians" Cookie Bouquets?
• "Can a grandma wear steampunk?" Yes. Obviously.
• "Banana Muffin Terrorist" I will now refer to myself as such. Because I terrorize with wholesome breakfast foods.

2012 was not a great year, but having this blog and the wonderful foodie community to turn to made it a little bit easier to bear. Here's hoping for lots more food and friends in the new year.

But you don't care about that. You're here for my super awesome, semi-geeky, homemade gummies. I had actually meant to post these before Christmas, but I ended up being way too busy. Still, they were too cool not to share. And so super easy. Three ingredients, and they take about 10-20 minutes hands-on cooking time. Then 8 hours to chill and set. Then 24 hours to crystallize. But it's not like you have to do anything while they chill, set, and crystallize. Unless you're like me and check on them obsessively. But I have a neurosis, so don't follow my example there.

And yes, those are R2-D2 and Batman gummies you see there. Because I have the silicone ice-cube molds from ThinkGeek, and they ended up working great as candy molds. I also made a bunch of Christmas trees for presents, cut some into squares, and cut some into strips to make gummy worms. Because I could.

But Batman came out the best. Because Batman is awesome. Just make sure to spray your molds with non-stick cooking spray, and the gummies pop out easy-peasy. And you can make them any flavors you want, so long as you have the extracts. And with all the recipes for homemade extracts out there, the sky is really the limit.

Homemade Gummies {Printable Version}

Yield: About 3 dozen gummies

Ingredients

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1¼ cups cold water, divided

2 cups sugar

Food coloring

Flavored extract (such as lemon, peppermint, raspberry, etc.)

Approx. 1/3 cup additional sugar

Directions

Lightly spray your candy molds* with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over ½

cup of cold water and allow to soften. Add the remaining water and sugar to a small saucepan and heat

on high until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the

mixture is thickened slightly. Whisk the sugar syrup into the softened gelatin and continue to stir until

the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Divide evenly into 4 (or more) small bowls. Tint each bowl with 4-5 drops food coloring, and ¾ -1 tsp.

extract, and stir until well mixed. Carefully spoon into the prepared molds and refrigerate about 8 hours,

or until set.

Carefully remove the gummies from the molds and toss in the additional sugar. Place on waxed paper

and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours to crystallize. Store tightly covered at room

temperature.

*Silicone ice cube molds work well. Or use mini loaf pans and cut the gummies into even squares.

Recipe found via BettyCrocker.com

If you eat a Batman gummy on midnight on New Year's Eve, the new year will be awesome. Truth.