cookbook recipe review: chocolate banana muffins

What do you do when your bananas start looking like this?

You make these...

I've come across some really fabulous cookbooks over the last 3 or 4 months and there are now a few I could not live without. (Well, I'd live, but I really like some of them and would be upset if someone came and took them away.)

The New Best of Better Baking.com is one of them.

It is full, and I mean full of a ton of great recipes. Created by Marcy Goldman, also known for A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking and A Passion for Baking, this book is overflowing with classic favorites that have been triple tested to ensure success. My favorites include her Famous Terre Etoile Oatmeal Cookies, Pure Maple Granola Bars (as featured on http://www.canigettherecipe.com/), Woolworth's Fudge Cake (if you're Canadian and over 30 you'll remember Woolworth's...), and now these. I seriously think I could bake everything in this book and then do it all over again. Three times. Really. It's that good.

If you want to learn more about Marcy, you can also take a look at her website, http://www.betterbaking.com/

But for now, do yourself a favor. Buy some bananas, don't eat them, and then when they are nice and black, make these. Then get online or head to the bookstore and buy her book.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

From Marcy Goldman's The New Best of Better Baking.com. Makes 16 muffins. Reprinted with permission.

Ingredients- Topping:

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup finely ground pecans or macadamia nuts

4 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons firm;y packed brown sugar

Ingredients - Batter:

1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extact

1 tablespoon strong brewed coffee

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup banana puree (about 2 ripe bananas)

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans or macadamia nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners or spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. Grease the top of the muffin pans. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the topping, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse for 10 to 20 seconds to make a crumbly mixture. Transfer to a small bowl.

For the batter, combine the butter, oil and both sugars in the food processor and pulse to cream. Add the eggs, vanilla and coffee, and process for about 10 seconds or until smooth. Add the sour cream and banana puree and process to blend. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to blend. Add the wet ingredients and process for about 10 seconds, or until smooth. Add the white and semisweet chocolates and the nuts and pulse briefly to mix.

Using a large ice-cream scoop, fill each muffin cup to just over hte rim. Top each with 2 - 3 tablespoons of the topping. Place the muffin tins on the prepared baking sheets.

Place on the top and middle shelves of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes, or until the muffins are nicely browned and spring back when gently pressed. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes before unmolding onto wire racks.