Reviewed: Jun. 29, 2005

this is one of my favorite barefoot contessa recipes. the only thing you should edit is part 2 in the directions: the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt should be sifted before mixed. the melted butter should then be added and blended. and lastly, the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas should be combined...then added to the flour/butter mixture. these changes will make quite a differnce in the outcome of these muffins...they are fabulous!

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174 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

MADISONRAE

Reviewed: Mar. 20, 2006

Wow....what a great recipe. I made some modifications as others suggested: I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups of white flour; used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar; substituted buttermilk for the milk. I also decided to add 1/4 cup wheat germ. Be certain though to properly combine the ingredients as mentioned in a previous review - dry ingredients mixed first, melted butter added to the dry ingredients. Combine the eggs, milk, and vanilla and add next. Finally, fold in mashed bananas, chopped bananas, granola, nuts, coconut, and wheat germ. This recipe is a keeper!!

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51 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Food Fanatic

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Reviewed: Oct. 28, 2007

Fabulous. My whole family loves these--I added more bananas than called for and instead of granola, I used oats. delicious!

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43 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

IDAHOGIRL50

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Boise, Idaho, USA

Living In: Eagle, Idaho, USA

Reviewed: Feb. 14, 2008

I don't doubt this recipe ROCKS as is, but I am a diabetic. I made a few "healthy" changes. I used 2 cup freshly ground wheat flour, 3/4 cup of unbleached all-purpose and 1/4 cup of milled flax seed INSTEAD of 3 cups of all-purpose. I added 1/2tsp more baking powder. I also used 1 cup of splenda and 1/2 cup of splenda brown sugar blend INSTEAD of the 2 cups of white sugar. I also did as one of the reviewers said and mixed the butter into the dry ingredients before mixing in all the wet. I made these as heart shaped mini muffins for valentines breakfast for my children. Oh yummy! I can't tell you how very good these are! They are also VERY filling. My bottomless pit otherwise known as our 14 year old son could only eat 3 of these mini muffins (VERY unusual).

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32 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Christi

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: Sep. 15, 2006

Very delicious recipe! I added some chocolate chips b/c I didn't have enough nuts, so just to add some variety to the texture. They were very nice. One reviewer said to fill to the to since they don't fluff up a lot, but when I did that they just spilled out all over the oven. So from then on I filled only 1/2 to 2/3 full!

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18 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

little_cinnamon

Living In: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Reviewed: Jan. 20, 2008

This recipe is AMAZING (even though it's a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa). Definitely follow the suggestions from MADISONRAE - the muffins will have a different texture if you mix them as instructed. The directions here are fine - just produce a different muffin. The flavor is wonderful and they turn out great every time! OH - AND DON'T FILL THE MUFFIN CUPS TO THE TOP!!! You'll have a huge mess. They do rise to fill the muffin cups - just fill them 2/3 full. SO GOOD! ***UPDATE*** Made these again tonight with 3 cups whole wheat flour, half butter half applesauce, eggbeaters instead of eggs - SO SO GOOD!!! You can't go wrong with these!

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16 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Tulips*n*Truffles

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 4, 2007

These were GREAT! I had some frozen bananas that I wanted to use up (little tip for those of you who don't know what to do with your very ripe bananas is to freeze them and save them for cake and muffin recipes...not only is there no waste of them but the sugars are perfect for recipes like this! :) )and my granola turned out to be flavored with strawberry so I substituted a cup of quick oats for it. They came out amazing! I did have to add about 7 minutes baking time, but that could be just my oven. I think that everyone's oven is different anyway and you just need to bake them until they have a nice brown appearance. Going to take an Easter Basket full of them to work tomorrow...the guys love baked goods! Thanks so much for sharing this recipes....I will make again for sure :)

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10 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

ISLANDGIRLEJFAN

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Ferndale, Maryland, USA

Living In: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Reviewed: Jul. 21, 2011

A 5 stars plus! Moist, full bodied, very filling and banana-y. Barefoot Contessa is also one of my favorite cooking shows and I watched this episode where she made this and I couldn't wait to bake these muffins. What I did do slightly different is use 3 cups whole wheat flour, buttermilk instead of milk and I used 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp of banana extract. After I filled my muffin cups almost 2/3 ways, (they do rise up a little)I gently inserted a couple of banana chips into the muffin tops, breaking some, and sprinkling all over the top as well. These baked exactly 25 minutes at 350 degrees. I did end up with 36 muffins. My house smelled of bananas...MMmm. I think the buttermilk really helped as these muffins were just so moist, and there is a nice wonderful crunch factor from all of the quaker oats granolas, banana chips and walnuts. I can taste a little of the sweetened coconut flakes (nice!). Overall an easy recipe to put together with wonderful results! A definite keeper!

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9 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

OkinawanPrincess

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 26, 2011

These are really nice muffins! One important word of advice, though: cut down the sugar!!! I halved the sugar and they were still super sweet. Next time I will add even less. The granola adds sweetness, the banana adds sweetness and the coconut adds sweetness... so, really, you don't need 2 cups of sugar! Otherwise, I followed to a T, except for using 3/4 cup olive oil in place of the 1 cup butter. I sprinkled granola over the tops of the muffins before baking, which made them look really appetizing and pretty. Will make again, with less sugar. Thank you!

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8 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Diana Moutsopoulos

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: London, Greater London, England, U.K.

Reviewed: Jul. 31, 2007

I thought that this recipe was really good. All the ingredients were simple so they were very easy to make. I also used chocolate chips insted of granola and I used pecans insted of walnuts. I turned out very tasty:)

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8 users found this review helpful