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Saturday, July 19, 2014

Minty Peanut Butter Muffins

I'm not sure how I came up with this one.  I had started my basic muffin batter and knew there would be handfuls of freshly chopped mint going in, but the banana and lime just invited themselves into the mix.  The lime was begging for a good zesting and the banana wanted a good mashing.  What's the deal with the peanut butter?  Well, it pairs so nicely with banana that I ended up asking it to join.  A request gladly accepted.
I was planning to use watermelon instead of banana and peanut butter, but I just imagined a watery unwatermelon-tasting muffin, which would beat the entire point of using watermelon.
So the real question is, do all these flavors really go together?
The blueberry lime basil muffins did, so I thought there would be a good chance for these to make it to the."Strange but Delicious" list.
Yield 15 muffins
Ingredients
2 eggs, well beaten
2 bananas, well mashed
150g (5.3oz) cane sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
3 Tbsp peanut butter
40g (1.4oz) canola oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
zest and juice from 1 lime
2 handfuls finely chopped fresh mint
150g (5.3oz) organic whole wheat flour
crushed peanuts for garnish
Directions
1.  Beat together the eggs, sugar, mashed banana, peanut butter, lime juice, zest, and oil.  Beat it well, then fold in the mint.
2.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Carefully stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
3.  Fill your buttered muffin tins 3/4 full, top with crushed peanuts and bake for 18-20 minutes at 180°C 350°F or until a toothpick comes out clean.

It turns out the flavors DO go extremely well together.  The lime is subtle, the peanut butter is not overpowering, and the mint is an excellent enhancer.  It leaves you with a refreshing pleasant aftertaste and has you coming back for more..
sort of like Pain d'Epices...

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