Candidate 2: Crunchy Nanas

While browsing the net I came across BakingBites and saw the Crunchy Banana Muffins. I thought of adding this entry as one of the candidates for the Search for Christmas treats 2007. The recipe was simple, the ingredients were readily available and it was a different approach to the traditional banana bread we would give to loved ones. My aunt who is a prime lover of banana bread would definitely love this.

The verdict: It was good for taste and appearance. It was definitely moist. My blunder was the crumble. It should have a crunchy top. I have over mixed it and the butter became too soft. I should have made the crumble last or at least placed it in the fridge to keep it's shape. It still was fun to make and the folks who have tried it said it was good even without the crunch.

And the search continues...

Note: I hope Nicole of BakingBites wouldn't mind me linking back to her site. I would love to post her recipe her but I still haven't heard from her yet. You may visit the link here to get the recipe and try it out.

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Update: Yipee. I can share with you the recipe. Thank you Nicole! :D

Banana Crumb Muffins
from BakingBites.com
Muffin batter:

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup buttermilk
1 egg
2/3 cup (2 medium) mashed bananas, divided
1 tsp vanilla

Crumb topping:
½ cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
3 tbsp shortening, cut into small pieces.
1 tbsp mashed banana (reserved from 2/3 cup mashed banana)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

Prepare the crumb topping: In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Cut shortening into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Larger crumbs are a bit more desirable. Stir in the mashed banana and set bowl aside.

Prepare the batter: In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, egg, bananas and vanilla. Pour flour mixture into banana mixture and stir until batter is just combined. Spoon into muffin tins, filling each 2/3 full. Top each muffin with crumb mixture, dividing it evenly.
Bake for 18-21 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the muffins spring back when gently touched.
Makes 12 muffins

Banana-Apple Turon

We had a bunch of saba bananas that were deliciously ripe. Not too soft and mushy but definitely sweet that I decided to turn it into turon. Turon is a sweet spring roll filled with bananas that is eaten either as a snack or dessert. Some would pair this up with strips of jackfruit, a serving of vanilla ice cream or a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. I remember growing up with in the provinces and eating this during the summer afternoons after a good game of tag or hide-and-seek. We still enjoy this simple treat up to this day. :D

I wanted something different to go with the turon by adding apples. I had a few that were just sitting on the fruit bowl. I thought it would be a twist by adding it with a hint of cinnamon. So when I served it for Sunday brunch, it came out pretty good in my opinion. Somehow, it reminded me of apple pie. My sister said so herself when she tried it. But she still preferred the traditional kind - just plain saba please or with a hint of jackfruit.

Saba-Apple Turon

Ingredients:
10 saba fingers, medium ripe, peeled and sliced into 4 strips per finger
1 – 2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced into strips
white sugar
cinnamon
20-30 egg roll (lumpia) wrapper
oil for deep frying

Mix ½ cup of sugar with 1/8 – ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Make sure the cinnamon is evenly distributed. I roughly estimated the amount of cinnamon. I would advise that the amount be adjust depending on personal preference. If you prefer to add more, by all means do.

Dip the 2 strips of banana and 2 strips of apple into the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Arrange the coated strips on the egg roll wrapper. Roll the wrapper to almost mid-way. Tuck in the sides to the center thus encasing the fruits in the center. Then roll until you have almost reached the end of the wrapper. Brush the end with water to make is slightly moist but not wet. This will help seal the wrapper and avoid the fruits from spilling out.
Repeat the process until all the fruits have been wrapped.

Heat about 1 cup of oil over medium heat. Fry turon in batches of 5-6 pieces (depending on how large the frying pan is. I use a 8” skillet). This would prevent the oil’s temperature from dropping and avoid from over-crowding the pan. This way the rolls would cook evenly through. Drain in paper towels.

The excess rolls were placed in an air-tight freezer container then placed in the freezer. We just thaw the rolls to almost totally defrosted then fry it into the hot oil. Just be careful of the splatter.

Additional variations:

- Sprinkle over some sesame seeds after draining the turon rolls.
- Instead of rolling the fruits into the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle it over the egg roll wrapper before rolling.
- Omit the sugar-cinnamon when rolling the fruits into the egg roll wrapper. After draining, dust it over the cooked rolls instead.

Banana Blueberry Bread

Fresh blueberries are not readily available in my area, so I replace the 1 cup fresh blueberries with 1/2 canned blueberries and lessened the sugar by 1-2 tablespoons.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 2/3 cup - 2 tbsps. sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup oatmeal, quick cooking 1/3 cup canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 cup bananas, ripe, mashed 1/2 of canned blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir in the oatmeal.
Add eggs, oil and bananas. Stir until just combined.
Pour 1/2 of prepared batter into pan and cover with the blueberries. Then cover blueberries with remaining batter.
Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean. Cool in pan about 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
Wrap tightly in foil or plastic wrap and cool in refrigerator before serving.