Banana Cup-Muffins

I don't bake. My sister is the baker in the family. But I'm more well known for my "brownie biscotti", created only when I over-cooked brownies by twenty minutes. I am also notorious for under-cooking... everything that is supposed to emerge from the oven hot, steamy, and, well, cooked. But I had a hunkering for cupcakes/muffins, so I made up a recipe. This could certainly have been a recipe for disaster.

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I went to Hannaford looking for white cake and canned pumpkin. Unfortunately, there seems to be a shortage of canned pumpkin in Chelmsford, MA. I decided to purchase a yellow sugar-free cake mix and use a couple of thoroughly brown bananas we had sitting on the counter at home. I've made chocolate cupcake/muffins with pumpkin before; it allows you to bake without eggs and oil, two ingredients many of us are trying to omit from our diets (i.e. Ram and me). I figured banana could mimic the consistency of pumpkin, so I decided to give it a shot.

I literally poured the pouch of cake mix into a large mixing bowl. I added the two bananas, which I smooshed a little in my hands on the way into the bowl. I also added about 3/4 cup water. A minute or so of mixing, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg, and I was ready to load up my muffin pan. I only made twelve cup-muffins (I've invented this name for the delight that is a cupcake with muffin qualities and/or a muffin with cupcake consistency), so I essentially filled the muffin pan. I baked at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

They were so delicious. Sugar-free, oil-free, and egg-free never tasted so good. And I loved the slightly-doughy texture. Cook them a little longer if you want a dryer, potentially-fluffier cup-muffin. And while these are wonderful eaten directly out of the pan by hand, you can also enjoy them with fork in hand. You won't regret it.