Are you pake, (pronounced "pah kay", pidgin for cheap Chinese) like me? While I was shopping at this new grocery store that opened in the Almaden Plaza called "Real Produce", I saw that they had overripe organic bananas sitting in a basket. I asked one of the baggers if they were going to sell them for cheap.
After conferring with his supervisor, he came back with a bag and proceeded to fill it with 7 or 8 bananas. He then looked at me and said, "one dollar?"
This is how cheap I am…I responded to this very good deal (they weren’t super overripe and some could still be eaten) by saying, "Could you put in some more?" Yes, people, I am that cheap! And you know what, it never hurts to ask. He didn’t have any problem filling it with another bunch of about 4 more. Score!
Bunch of Bananas
(A little explanation on the "cooking for engineers.com": CFE is part of a massive giveaway of HP laptops going on this month. 15 websites are giving away one HP laptop, and they all had different criteria for entries. CFE’s criteria was you had to take pictures of food, with "Cooking for Engineers.com" showing up somewhere in the picture. This was our entry. We didn’t win. So we’re still plodding on with our 5-year old Dell…)
Never Waste Food
I know bananas aren’t very local and we should try to eat locally but I am also a firm believer of never wasting food. I know that stores throw away tons of overripe produce everyday. If I can take these overripe bananas and use them, I’d rather do that then have them go to waste.
Also, I really do like bananas (I’m from the tropics after all). Nate, on the other hand, is not a big fan of them. Sad…so sad…(he will concede to eating a few apple bananas when he’s home in Hawaii).
But I digress. So what am I going to do with so many bananas? Well, my kids love bananas too so we ate a few of them. And the rest, I had plans to bake some muffins and maybe fry up some banana kuih kodok (balls of fried mashed bananas mixed in flour and sugar but that’s another post).
Good Intentions
I have a really yummy banana muffin recipe. It calls for 6-7 bananas and makes super tasty, very banana-y flavored muffins. I got this recipe from Aunty Marlene while I was living in Hawaii (she’s not really my aunty but they call everyone aunty there–makes me feel right at home cuz that’s what we do in Malaysia too).
I made some regular sized muffins and some mini ones. Those mini ones are so great. If you don’t want to over-eat, but feel like a little treat, it’s so great to just be able to take one that is a small bite. Of course, in this case, I pop one in my mouth, then end up sneaking another one and ok, maybe just one more! Sigh, good intentions and all that…
So if you’re ever in a situation like me with an overabundance of ripe bananas (and please don’t use bananas that are not overripe, they just don’t work when baked), this is the recipe for you! Or you could halve the recipe and still get a great treat. This recipe does make quite a number of muffins. I ended up with 17 regular sized muffins and 2 dozen minis.
Aunty Marlene’s Banana Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup Butter
2 cups Sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups and it was still really sweet)
6-7 Bananas, mashed (I used 7 because I could!)
4 Eggs, well beaten
2 1/2 cups (12.5oz) All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Soda
Method
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add bananas and eggs to butter mixture and mix well.
4. Sift AP flour, salt and baking soda and add that to batter and mix gently till incorporated.
5. Grease muffin tins (or use muffin paper cups) and fill to about 3/4 full.
6. Bake for about 12 minutes for mini muffins and 20 minutes for regular muffins. Test with toothpick to make sure muffins are cooked through.
Remove from oven, remove from tins and cool on wire rack.
Aunty Marlene’s Banana Muffins
Enjoy!
Cheers, Annie
>Wow, that many bananas for one dollar! Colour me impressed.
>Just made banana pancakes today. No more fully ripen bananas left now. But will surely try it out in future. Bananas are our family’s favourite!
>Annie, if I have extremely ripe bananas but no time to bake with them, I put them in the freezer. Then when I’m ready to bake, I just thaw the bananas in the microwave and they’re good to go!
However, it is important to keep your freezer organized, which I can never seem to do. So at times I will look in it and find no bananas. At other times, it looks as if a banana invasion has occured while I slept.
>Awesome! I have nearly bad bananas at home right now…
>Nice! That is one heck of a bargain you got yourself there. My local grocery store always puts that stuff up at 50% off, maybe I’ll try haggling next time. (I can already see my husband sneaking away and pretending he does not know me lol)
>Jenster–I laughed reading your comment because I’m sure somewhere in my freezer is a bag of ripe bananas just waiting to be used but I can never seem to find them when I want them. So I totally know what you mean. Maybe in about a year, I will unearth them from my freezer, and who knows then, whether they will still be good to use.
>any modifications for high altitude?
>I’d eat the crusts right off those muffins! Now I just need to find someone to eat the bottoms!
>yup, my hubby is pake alrite! hahaha .. but you guys get the best buys and the best find! good job:D
>wow… good deal! I love bananas. and you did a good thing by taking them, if not they will be thrown away too. The muffins are really cute 🙂
>@js – yeah, it was a great deal!
@food for tots – while I (Nate) can’t say that, they are a top 5 fruit in our house.
@Jenster – freezer organization is one of my weaknesses.
@magpie – then you’re good to go!
@judyfoodie – I used to be shy whenever Annie would haggle at the grocer. But now I figure, hey if the grocer wants to give it away, better for our wallet!
>@anonymous – sorry, but we're not used to high-altitude cooking so we don't have any advice there. thanks for asking!
@lydia – Get Newman from Seinfeld to eat the bottoms LOL
@cumi & ciki – we love deals!
@wiffy – thanks!
>I love banana muffins!!
They’re always so moist and tender…
Yours look fantastic!
>@leonor – thanks!
>LOL – I would do the very same if I was brave. Instead, I am a fringe dweller who goes to the market late when they are selling off the fruit and veges (especially the old or bruised stuff – you have to buy the bag they give you) for cheap. I happen to have about 6 or 7 blackish bananas looking sadly at me in the fruit bowl from a large $2 bag of bananas from last weekend – maybe this should be their fate!
>Hey, fellow Hawaiians!
My family is SUPER pake, and I’m always looking for the best deals and ways to save money.
>hi annie & nate,
this looks like a super easy recipe that yields delicious treats! 🙂
i would add chocolate chips into it…just because i'm such a chocoholic! lol
thanks for sharing the recipe.
>cakelaw – Pick up your courage and try, the worst they can do is say “no”. I hope you got to use those bananas.
larissa – welcome to our site. Nate’s the resident local boy! But I can claim to be slightly “kama’aina” from living there for a bit.
lingzie – what a great idea with the chocolate. Especially now, when I’m craving chocolate…
>I *love* banana muffins, and I have just about seven overripe ones in the freezer that have been just waiting to be used. Thank you 🙂
>I’ve made them, and I was so glad I did! Everyone loved them. They are actually improved by time – warm from the oven is not ideal, but give them about 5 hours, and they are meltingly bananaey (?!) well ok, just fabulous!!
>@Colloquial Cook – thank you for your comment. It’s so nice to hear that people are enjoying our recipes.
>Actually, I am making them again this week, they are tooooo good.
Yeepee!
>@colloquial cook – I like knowing that the recipe is a keeper 🙂
>A keeper most definitely – I make them using 1/4 c spelt flour, it increases the nuttiness of the muffins, and sometimes I sneak in a couple of handfuls of toasted walnuts… Yey for brown bananas.
>@Colloquial Cook – toasted walnuts sound excellent!