simple satisfaction…

Sometimes good food does not have to be made 100% from scratch.

I usually like to make everything from scratch. But when I am crunched for time, I want something simple and quick.
Yesterday while cleaning out the fridge I noticed that I had a stock pile of bananas in my freezer. I was tempted to just throw them all away, but that seemed like such a waste. After a quick scan of the cupboards I realized I did not have enough flour to do anything with, but did have a box of cake mix. Simple enough. I grabbed my Cake Mix Doctor (Anne Bryn) cookbook and found a recipe for Banana Bread. Anne Bryn takes plain cake mixes and transforms them into unique desserts.

I decided to make muffins (since I had been craving them all week) instead of bread and to add chocolate chips to the recipe. Other then that I kept everything the same.

The best part aside from the taste? No one will ever know they were not from scratch!

Banana Muffins (or bread) – makes about 2 dozen standard muffins or 2

 9 inch loaves

1 Package yellow cake mix

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

3/4 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, you can mix 3/4 cup milk with 3/4 Tablespoon lemon juice – let sit for 5 minutes and then add to recipe)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 or (325 for dark or nonstick pans). Spray muffin pans with nonstick spray and line with papers or spray 2   9 inch loaf pans if making bread.

Place the cake mix, brown sugar, mashed bananas, buttermilk, oil, eggs and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low-speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl, increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes.  The batter should look well blended. If using chocolate chips, fold into batter. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, fill each paper 2/3 way full. If using loaf pans, divide batter evenly.

Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For muffins about 18-20 mins for loaves 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks for at least 20 minutes.

Craving satisfied!