Banana Muffins

I'm not gonna lie. Sometimes, I get sick of banana bread. So, I needed something to do with those bananas that have the lovely brown spots and voila! A banana muffin is the answer! Thanks to my trusty Better Homes and Gardens versatile muffin recipe, see notes about variations.

1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup mashed bananas

1. Line a 12 cup muffin tin. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, set aside.
2. In another bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Add the mashed banana and any nuts (optional) to the dry mixture with the egg mixture.
3. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in muffin cups on wire rack for 5 minutes.

*a note. Variations include:

blueberry: prepare muffins except fold 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and increase milk to 3/4 cup.

oatmeal: reduce flour to 1 1/3 cups, increase milk to 3/4 cups and add 3/4 cup rolled oats to dry mixture.

poppy seed: increase sugar to 1/2 cup, increase milk to 3/4 cup, add 1 tbsp poppy seed to dry mixture.

cranberry muffins: combine 1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries, increase milk to 3/4 cup, and 2 tbsp additional sugar, fold into batter.

cheese muffins: stir 1/2 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese into dry mixture, increase milk to 3/4 cup.