(for an introduction to AOK "trial" Gourmet, click here)

If you're anything like me, your old (and bruised) bananas end up in the freezer. Eventually you go to add another one to your stash and you realize that you have accumulated a gazillion (OK... maybe more like 5 or 6) ugly black masses that may have once resembled bananas and you say to yourself... maybe it's time to make banana bread?

There are so many different recipes for banana bread out there, most of them including the optional addition of chopped nuts. My husband has an aversion to the texture of nuts so even though I like what they add to banana bread, I never actually include them when I'm making it.


So when I stumbled upon this recipe for Kellogg's Corn Flakes banana muffins (on the side of the cereal box of course!) I thought that the addition of corn flakes "crumbs" might be an interesting compromise.


Since my baking bananas were frozen, I had to plan ahead and take them out of the freezer to thaw. Once thawed, they're really quite a mess to handle (slimy... mushy...). I've always found that the best technique to get the banana out of the skin when it's like this, is to simply cut the tip at one end and squeeze the contents out. It's not pretty, but it's quick and it's clean.


So... back to the recipe...





With a toddler at home, I decided to make "mini-muffins" for snacks and I've included my modifications to the original recipe below. I'm starting to think that mini-muffins are a bit like Halloween candy. The portion sizes are fantastic for toddlers or kids... but as an adult (...a food loving, glutenous, nursing woman!) I think I actually end up eating more. It's just too easy to have another one, and then another one... and then... I think you get my point.


So... mini or not... how would I rate this recipe? It's good. It was super simple and it gave me something to do with banana AND cereal leftovers (you know... the last little bit of cereal at the bottom of the box that for some reason no one ever wants to eat). Although the corn flakes didn't add the texture I was hoping for, the recipe seems to make a really moist and bready muffin. At least - that' s how mine turned out.


Totally worth a try. Check out the recipe below...