Banana Muffins Made with Homemade Baking Mix

The men in my family can't seem to find the clothes basket or the trash can. When I wake up in the morning most of my first hour of the day is spent picking up dirty clothes from the living room and bedroom floors. I have tried training them and it lasts for about a week. Then they are back to leaving things throughout the house. It's almost like they are Hansel and Gretel and need a trail to find their way between the bathroom and their bedrooms. My husband isn't much better than my kids. He normally keeps his clothes in one pile, but he has pairs and pairs of shoes all over the house. Seriously the man changes his shoes 3-4 times a day. I tried charts to modify their behavior and honestly the charts became more of a chore than picking up the mess. Maybe I need to train myself to not pick up after them so they start doing it themselves. Realistically though I can only go a couple of hours before it would start to drive me nuts.

My kids run in the house every afternoon and ask what I made for their after school snack. They are always starving after school and will literally eat everything in the cupboard if I gave them the chance. I try to make foods that are easy to hold such as muffins, crackers, etc so they can do their homework while eating. Having a baking mix made up ahead of time is a nice way to save time, making it so I only have to spend less than a half an hour in the kitchen. This recipe for Banana Muffins is made using a Homemade Baking Mix that can also be used to make scones and biscuits (recipes to come).

Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart Living. 

Homemade Baking Mix
Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 sticks frozen unsalted butter, grated
• 6 cups all-purpose or bread flour

Cooking Directions

1. Combine sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour.
2. Stir in butter, making sure there aren't any large clumps.
3. Store in fridge for up to a month, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Banana Muffins
Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups homemade baking mix, room temp
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2-3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large egg, beaten

Cooking Directions

1. Combine baking mix, sugar and cinnamon.
2. Break up any large butter clumps with your fingers.
3. In another bowl combine milk, eggs, and bananas.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
5. Stir well until completely combined.
6. Divide batter into a greased (or paper lined) 12 muffin cup muffin pan.
7. Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full.
8. Sprinkle each cup with granulated sugar.
9. Bake muffins in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes.
10. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Tips: 

• This is a very versatile baking mix. You can also use it to make scones, biscuits, and pancakes. 
• If you want to add a little chocolate to your banana muffins this recipe would work well with dark chocolate chunks or with a few tablespoons of peanut butter.