what I am stuffing my face with at the moment

For some reason bananas ripen unusually fast at our house. In case you did not know, you can peel and freeze these little gold nuggets. I have a huge freezer bag full of them for baking, smoothie making and such.

Well yesterday I had my usual bunch sitting on the table getting ripe ( I bought too many this weekend) and so I decided to make some banana muffins. I have a few recipes that I use, so I decided on one by Giada De Laurentiis. In case you did not know, I have a small crush on her. I wish I had her hair, fashion sense, and the ability to look super hot while I am cooking for my husband.

Anyways, I made her muffins yesterday and have decided they are my favorite. They are sooo easy to make, do not require any equipment, and sooo good! I would take some kind of
artsy-cool photo of them, but I am too lazy from eating too many.

Banana Muffins with Marscarpone Cream Frosting


Ingredients
Muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed

Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions
Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl to blend. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins may be eaten warm or cooled completely and frosted.

To frost the cupcakes: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone cheese and then beat in the honey. Spread the frosting over the muffins. Sprinkle with the walnuts.

**The recipe says that it makes 18 but I get two full pans. I have made these with and without the frosting. I think the frosting is more for desert or special occasions because it is very rich. When I made these yesterday, I omitted the frosting because we will be eating these all week for breakfast and snacks and because I did not have the ingredients:)