Another August weekend is in the books! We spent ours around home doing some yard work, enjoying an evening with good friends, and doing something Joe absolutely hates with a passion – shopping. School shopping, more specifically.
I should’ve snapped a picture of his crabby expression in the Nike store – our first stop of the afternoon on Saturday. It was quite priceless. We all survived, though, and Joe actually made out with quite a nice hall of new t-shirts and a new pair of tennis shoes. Check school shopping off our to-do list!
I’m headed to Detroit tomorrow for a National Turkey Federation meeting but it’s a quick trip. I’ll be back Tuesday evening. This is also Teacher Man’s last week of summer vacation, or as he referred to it today, “the dream is over.” I think he has golf planned every day through Thursday. 🙂
I also made some fairly sinful muffins this morning – Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins with a Cinnamon Crumb Topping. They definitely feel more like dessert than breakfast, which is fine by me! Recipe follows below.
Have a great start to your week, friends, and please watch for my Turkey Tuesday post. It’s a turkey meatball recipe!
Lara
My love for all things LuLaRoe continues with this outfit, which includes leggings and a “Perfect” t-shirt. This t-shirt is actually one of the first LuLaRoe purchases I made a few months ago but I was never really sure how I wanted to wear it. Then I found these leggings and layered a long tank top underneath and I’m totally digging it. This is my new go-to outfit for the airport tomorrow.
I have a gorgeous harvest of carrots this year – check out the size and perfect shape!
I got in two running sessions this weekend – woot woot! This one pictured was on Saturday morning, in between rain showers. I love how my running path takes me between two corn fields and also near a dairy farm – even though we live in the city limits of Buffalo.
Later we saw a double rainbow in the eastern sky!
I got the thumbs up from my 2-year-old niece, Miss Morgan, for my new nail color today. I’m taking a cue from her about not being afraid of a little color!
And finally, these muffins. (Or, why I run on a regular basis.)
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins with Cinnamon Crumb Topping
Ingredients
Banana Bread
- 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 very ripe bananas peeled and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cinnamon Crumble Topping
- 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter
Instructions
For the banana bread
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a 12-count muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.
- Whisk the vanilla and eggs together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric hand-held mixer, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
- Gradually pour in the egg mixture while beating; beat until incorporated.
- Mix in the bananas (the batter will appear curdled, but don't worry), then remove the bowl from the mixer.
- With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
For the cinnamon crumble topping
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Cut in the butter with 2 knives or a pastry cutter until uniform.
- Fill the cups of the muffin tin about halfway with the batter.
- Spoon the cinnamon crumble topping over the muffins, pressing it lightly into the batter.
- Bake until the topping is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Let cool before serving.
Notes
To bake as a loaf without the crumble topping, pour the banana bread batter into a buttered 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan onto the rack to cool completely. Adapted from The Food Network