Hummingbird Muffins

An inspired recipe

I had some bananas which needed to be used up, badly. I also had some fresh cut-up pineapple languishing in the refrigerator. I got ideas. This recipe was a riff off the banana bread in Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here for More Food, which is a great jumping-off point if you are wanting to gain confidence in your baking skills. I departed wildly and shortly from it, though, as you’ll see. I was inspired by the amazing slab of Hummingbird Cake which I once shared with my husband at the City Cafe in Chattanooga, TN. I’m not sure it’s still there, or still has the enormous cake display, but if it is and it does, and you’re in Chattanooga, you simply must detour and visit. It is worth your time, I assure you.

These come together fast and are a great prep-ahead snack or breakfast treat.

Hummingbird Muffins

• 4 very ripe bananas¹

• 1 c ripe pineapple cut in small pieces

• 1 c sugar

• 2/3 c lard, melted then cooled to room temperature (it will not solidify)

• 2 eggs, if pullet eggs, 3

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 1 c pecans, whole or chopped

• 6 oz chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare two muffin pans with cupcake liners, or grease the tins very well. This will make about 24 regular size muffins.

Mix together the bananas and sugar until almost liquid (a stand mixer on low with a beater blade works a treat), then add in the lard, the eggs, and the pineapple. Finally add in the nuts and chocolate. Stop the mixer and set aside.

Sift together:

• 2 c all-purpose flour

• 1/3 c coconut flour

• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

Mix this into the wet part of the batter just until it’s combined, and no more. A few lumps won’t hurt anything, they will bake in. Muffins are delicate!

An ice cream scoop works well for transferring batter with minimal mess.

Scoop into your muffin liners, and bake for 28-35 minutes, until a tester comes cleanly out of the center of one of the tallest muffins. These are not the fluffiest of muffins, they are dense and packed full of goodness. Perfect for school morning breakfasts with children. Or for a filling snack for the writer who is up to her elbows in plot and can’t be bothered with cooking.

Like any muffin, cookie, or cake, these freeze very well. Simply wait until they are completely cooled, pop them in a Ziploc in the quantity you desire - or fill up a big bag and pull one or two out at a time - thaw, and consume. I like to thaw them in the toaster oven, bisected, and slather a little butter on each flat half before consumption. Mmmm… delicious Maillard reaction.

I’ve been thinking about the food blogging. I once did this carefully, with setting up photos and lighting and making the whole process look beautiful. Now, though, I find myself with little time and less patience. So you are getting to really see what I’m doing, and the state of the kitchen I’m doing it in. Sorry if that’s too messy, but it’s where I’m at in life. I seem to have lost my giveadamn. I’m likely to write up the musing in the next week or so.

1. Did you know you can freeze bananas until such time as you need them? They will turn black on the outside, but you can squish them out of their peel like toothpaste and they are still fantastic in baked goods or smoothies.