Make a Muffin: Save the World

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One thing I despise in life is wasting food. Some much each year Americans through away millions of pounds of food that is otherwise usable. In our house we tend to lose bananas more than anything else. 
Firstly, they are just ripe when you buy them from the grocery store. Secondly, our bananas are not always stored by themselves. Items such as potatoes and onions give off a lot of Ethylene gas. This increases the Ethylene gasses in the bananas, speeding up the ripening process (Ripley, pg180). 
What to do with constant cycle of ripe bananas? Buy less? No, I am a baker, lets bake! I simple quick recipe for ripe bananas are muffins. You can use any muffin base, simply stir in, and bake. Here is a fun twist with more intense banana flavor. 

Recipe

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour         2 cups
Baking Powder             2 teaspoons
Sugar                            ½ cup
Butter, melted               8 ounces, 1 stick
Egg                               1 each
Whole milk                   1 cup
Bananas                        4 each
Caramel Sauce              ¼ cup


Make Muffins
  1. Sift together dry ingredients.
  2. Stir together wet ingredients.
  3. Add wet to dry stir until mixed. Batter may be lumpy.
  4. Fold in bananas. Gently stir in caramel. Try not to blend.
  5. Scoop into paper lined cupcake/small muffin tin.
  6. Bake at 350°F 20-30 minutes until center spring bake when touched. These cupcakes will be light in color.

Printable Recipe

I love doing quick simple recipes like this. It takes such a short amount of time to keep just a few more items out of our trash. Do you use your ripened fruits? 

 There are so many ways we can alter this recipe to save even more. Fold in soft apples instead of bananas, at the end, to make an apple pie muffin. Soften berries can be topped on scooped muffins for a fun fruity twist. 

 I hope this recipe gives you a little something special in your repertoire to wing it, create it, and maybe even save the world. 
Sources
Burg, Stanley P., and Ellen A. Burg. “Role of Ethylene in Fruit Ripening .” Plant Physiology 37.2 (1962): 179–189. Print.

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