Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

It's been busy! I wanted to share a gluten free recipe I tried out last week. The picture is of one that was frozen and defrosted for my son this morning. I can't believe I am saying this, but these are the BEST banana - chocolate chip muffins ever!! They are super moist and not too banana tasting. They even taste great after being frozen. My son is extremely picky when it comes to food. He doesn't like too much banana taste and he doesn't like the nuts. Plus, he has to have chocolate chips in everything sweet! They can be made in any shape pan you would like. I got this recipe from Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten-Free Eating by Jules Shepard. If you are on a gf diet, I highly recommend this book and any recipe by her. Every one that I have tried has tasted great. My family loves them and my son is the only one that has to be on the diet. I did modify the recipe, and I will include the modifications in parentheses. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter or shortening (I used shortening, next time I will try butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups Nearly Normal Gluten-Free Flour Mix (I used Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour mixed with 3/4 tsp Xanthan Gum)
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder (I actually didn't have this on hand, so I used 1 tsp Cornstarch)
dash of salt
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed, rip banana (My son doesn't like a strong banana flavor, so I used the smallest, ripe banana I had)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional, I used chocolate chips)
1/2 cup berries  (optional, picky son = do not use)

Preheat oven to 350 F

Cream the butter or shortening and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture. Blend well before adding the sour cream, vanilla and banana. Add the nuts and berries, if using, just before pouring into greased loaf pans or muffin tins.

Bake for approximatley 1 hour - less if using smaller pans. Test with a cake tester before removing from the oven to cool.

*Remember to always use confirmed Gluten Free food items.

Belated VDay Treats

Most of our family was sick over the holiday weekend, so we were not in the mood celebrate. Today we are all on the road to recovery. My little boy asked me if we were going to do anything special. Well, I didn't have anything planned, but I thought we should at least have a special treat. I made mini cupcakes with chocolate chips inside and chocolate icing. I used Betty Crocker's Gluten Free yellow cake mix, Nestle Semi-Sweet chocolate chips, and Betty Crocker's Chocolate Icing. I am not a baker, so I try to make things as easy as possible. This can be difficult when cooking gf.They came out pretty tasty. The chocolate definatley helps the taste. We have tried all the Betty Crocker gf mixes. The best ones are the brownie mix and the devil's food cake mix. The yellow cake is okay, and the chocolate chip cookies are just edible. You can really taste the rice flour in the cookies. The best thing about Betty Crocker is they have many gf recipes using their products. Thank you to Betty Crocker! I hope all had a relaxing President's Day and Valentine's Day.