Banana Walnut Muffins

I love a simple recipe.  I mean a recipe that doesn't require me to pull out any special equipment, hunt and gather any hard to find ingredients, and comes together quick and easy and still tastes delicious.  Especially now that the kids are back in school (YES, already!).  And that's actually how this recipe came together.  School lunches...

I found a half eaten banana in Lauren's lunch box last night.  Cut off the chewed end and saved it.  Then remembered that I had some others in the freezer and a bag of California Walnuts that was sent to me while I was away on vacation last month.  So this morning I gathered everything together and made these delicious little banana walnut muffins!

Fast, simple and delicious...

Banana Walnut Muffins (from Simply Recipes)

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional/I skipped this but would love to try it next time)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw)

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

2 Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso (if using)  and vanilla.

3 Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

4 Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.

5 Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.

Yield: Makes 12 muffins.

***A big thanks and shout out to the folks at California Walnuts for supplying me with walnuts!!! Check out their website for some cool ideas and info.