Banana Bread

 Okay I am tired of bananas. Tired of looking for new recipes and tired of baking with them. Luckily, (I think) when we lost power due to the storm we lost my entire shelf of frozen bananas. I am annoyed but not upset. I was planning to make a bunch of banana muffins and freeze them. Darn. Oh well! Right before the storm, I made this banana bread recipe from the 1963 edition of Charleston Receipts but as giant muffins. Because muffins are great but giant muffins are better! 

Super easy looking, nothing unusual or special. No judgement so far. It could still be amazing...

Hmmm....Everything is so white...

Just getting everything prepped. Eggs beaten and bananas mashed!

Just creaming shortening and trying to get artsy. I think it's a cool pic. What do you think?

Everything is all ready to mix together. I debated on pulling out the standing mixer but it was not necessary. I love my mixer but sometimes it is too heavy to deal with.

This recipe made the perfect amount for 6 large muffins. Just for fun I added a light dusting of raw sugar on half the muffins. I am hoping for a lovely layer of crunch on them!

These baked up beautifully! So...I have no idea which ones had the sugar on top. It looks like the sugar just sank in. Interesting.

Isn't this a great looking muffin?!

This was an easy recipe with pretty common ingredients. They baked up very nicely, are moist, and have a good flavor. But, as I suspected, nothing special or unique. Dylan did not share my opinion. If you are looking for a tasty and simple recipe than this one is perfect however I would probably add nuts or cinnamon next time. Or more sugar on top. 

My Rating: Good but not great

Dylan's Rating: Delicious! They are a little dry but overall they are great.

Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins

Sometimes you just have to bake! I was really really craving something small and sweet but didn't want to venture out into the world. I felt good when I saw a lot of social distancing while shopping the other day but then I drove by the beach...sigh... And naturally I didn't pick up any snackies because I was saving money. Guess I have to make some! I had everything on hand for Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins from the 1971's edition of Hershey's 1934 Cookbook.

Easy recipe and only make a dozen. Nice! So many older baking recipes make lots to share. Not being in a sharing situation I appreciate a single family recipe. I used a mix of semi-sweet and bitter-sweet chocolate chips and my last mandarin orange.

I know I took a picture of the ingredients. I set everything out all pretty, a nice pile of chocolate chips, a cute mandarin orange...I have no idea what happened to it. It disappeared! So let's jump to step 2: milk, egg, and oil added to the flour mix.

Best step, adding the chocolate chips! The orange zest adds a nice, bright touch of color.

I used baking liners because I'm that kind of person. I planned on giving some away and storing some so liners just make it easier. Easier for clean up as well. The recipe said 12 muffins so that's what I did. The dough only filled the liners halfway, less than what I would normally do.

They are so cute! Naturally they did not get as big as the muffins nowadays, we are bigger muffin people now.

These smell so good...

Yes, I took them out of the liners for pictures.

I had to sample one just out of the oven (who doesn't love a warm muffin?!) and was less than impressed. The chocolate was good but overall the muffin was bland. So, I took a few pictures, separated them to give away, and sat down to watch tv and think about my sewing pile. The next morning I was feeling a bit peckish. I'm not much of a breakfast person but the muffin seemed just the right amount. Wow! What a difference a night makes. These taste so much better after cooling off completely. A nice light hint of orange. I think milk chocolate chips would actually taste better.

My Rating: Good! A nice little muffin!

Friends and Family Rating: "These are delicious. I ate them all..." "My son loved the muffins! My friend said they were the best she ever had."

Caramel Cinnamon Muffins

I am not a fan of pumpkin pie so the entire grocery aisle for pumpkin flavored everything annoys me. There are so many other wonderful fall flavors! As I wrote before, concord grapes signal the start of fall for me but there is also cinnamon apple, cranberries, maple syrup, and pecans! This recipe sounded great for a cool autumn day. It is from a 1952 pamphlet by the Culinary Arts Institute, 250 Breads, Biscuits, and Rolls.

This pamphlet is filled with helpful hints and how-to's complete with pictures!

Looks super easy with no fancy ingredients.

I used butter flavored shortening because that is what I had.

 I am so excited! Brown sugar and butter!!

 The batter seemed a little dry while mixing. I hope it is supposed to.

 They turned out beautiful!

 The bottoms were covered in delicious crunchy caramel!

These were very interesting for as simple as the ingredients were. I found the muffin tops a bit bland but when you get a bite of the caramel with it, amazing! The cinnamon flavor was very light. I would probably add more next time. I think these may be even better as mini-muffins so you can get the cinnamon and the caramel all in one bite.

My Rating: Not too bad. I want to try it again with tweaks.

Friends and Family Rating: "So Good!" "I love the cinnamon!"