The other day I was in a grocery store in the baking looking to buy some nuts. I found the hazel nuts and decided to get some. However after checking the expiry date I noticed that all the packages on the shelf were just slightly past their best before date. I decided to get three bags. I asked at customer service if since they were expired nuts I could get some kind of discount on them. The customer service lady made a phone call, and then said yes, 50% off all the expired ones. This delighted me. It was a little risky because I know nuts can go rancid. However once home, it was discovered that they were still good.

Since we have so many hazel nuts in the house, I decided to make some muffins with them. Here is the recipe I came up with. Enjoy.

Banana Chocolate Chip Hazelnut (Filbert) Muffins

Makes 12 very large (medium muffins)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose (white four)

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup skim milk

2 tsp white vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp rum (or rum extract)

1 cup lightly packed-loose brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup flaked/finely chopped hazelnuts (filberts)

½-¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

About 1.5 cups of frozen or fresh banana pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. Prepare muffin tins. In a large bowl combine flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well. Add the hazelnuts and chocolate chips and mix well. Set aside. In a blender add the banana, egg, milk, vinegar, oil, vanilla extract, and rum. Blend until smooth. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture, and mix until completely combined. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for about until slightly golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean. (About 20-35 minutes).

Today I decided to make some muffins. I used my own recipe, however I made 12 instead of 24 that I origionally made the recipe with. Here is what I made with some images of the result.

Lisa’s Lovely Banana Muffins

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup margerine
2 1/4 cups white flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 medium bananas
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp rum extract
1/2 cup sour milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut

Add milk, bananas, vanilla, rum, eggs, and margerine to a blender and blend until smooth. In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and coconut. Blend well. Add moist mixture to dry mixture. Place in greased muffin tins (unless you have nonstick ones), and bake until lightly golden on top.

Enjoy

Makes about 24 medium/small muffins