Today I made chocolate chip banana muffins from a recipe from epicurious.com. I think the people who write into epicurious are hilarious, and mostly I just enjoy reading their psychotic reviews of recipes. I decided to take some of their less risky advice for alterations for the recipe and see whether it made any difference. I think I tested too many variables at a time, because I can't tell what caused what.
Here's the recipe:
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
2/3 C sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/3 t salf
1 C mashed ripe bananas
1 large egg
1/2 C unsalted butter, melted
1/4 C milk
3/4 C semisweet choco chips
Oven 350. Line muffin tin. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, + salt. Mix bananas, egg, melted butter, + milk. Stir wet mix into dry mix until just blended. Stir in choco chips. Fill cups 3/4 full. Bake approx. 30 min.
In my first variation, I added baking soda (1/2 t). In my second variation, I added 1/2 t cinnamon and 1 t vanilla.
The muffin on the left has baking soda; the muffin on the right has vanilla and cinnamon. You can't tell from the picture, but the one on the left is much prettier--it has a nicer color (more golden). It also peeled away from the paper easier, although both peeled just fine. The cinnamon flavor is nice, though. I don't know what difference the vanilla made, or what accounts for the nicer color.
I think this recipe is pretty good--the muffins are moist yet fluffy--but it's nothing special. I'm interested in finding a kick-ass banana muffin recipe . . .
