Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins

If you have bananas sitting on your counter about to go the way of the dodo I suggest giving these muffins a shot. Pretty much every week I find myself in this predicament, I have bananas that are about to go bad and I need to figure out what to do with them stat. Usually I peel them and stick them in the freezer for smoothies which by the way is an excellent solution, but since my freezer is becoming overrun by frozen bananas I figured I'd better do something else with these ones. If you don't have whole wheat pastry flour on hand don't sweat it just use all-purpose flour instead, and if you have more than two sorry bananas on your hands this recipe can easily be doubled.

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins 
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Very Ripe Bananas
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with baking cups. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside until needed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together 1 of the bananas and the sugar on medium-high for at least 3 minutes. Beat in the butter, egg, and vanilla , scraping the sides as needed, until well mixed. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in the dry ingredients until just mixed. Mash the remaining banana a bit so some texture remains then fold the mashed banana and nuts into the batter. Distribute the batter evenly among the cups, about half way and bake for 18-20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Makes 12 Muffins

Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence at the Food Network

Whole Wheat "Goldfish" Crackers

My brother loves goldfish crackers. He asked me to create a recipe using them as the featured ingredient. He was thinking somewhere along the lines of goldfish suspended in blue jello, (and no he is not 5 years old, he is in his 30's). I didn't make this creation, I know I'm a bad sister. But I did the next best thing, I found this great recipe from Smitten Kitchen and made these instead. You may have noticed my crackers are not shaped like goldfish (strike two) but that is because I don't have a goldfish cookie cutter, I guess he will just have to settle for starfish instead. I hope my brother appreciates this, although if he wants to actually eat these crackers he is either going to have to come visit me in SLC or make them himself, strike three I'm out.

Whole Wheat "Goldfish" Crackers (or any shape you fancy)
6 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Coarsely Grated
4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/8 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degree F and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough attachment. Turn food processor on and mix until dough forms a ball, about, 2 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a half an hour. On a floured surface roll dough out and cut into any shapes you like. Bake till golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 30 Crackers

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen