Maple Strawberry Banana Muffins

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: December 17, 2022

I kept promising my husband I would make him some banana muffins. My first attempt was a total recipe fail. The muffins tasted good, but were heavy like bricks. Then my husband suggested I make strawberry banana muffins (he wanted to make sure he got credit for that idea), so I researched some recipes I could adapt. I knew I wanted to add some maple and cinnamon flavor in there. Hubby was quite pleased with the results.

I totally forgot to take pictures of the ingredients like I normally do. I was in a rush to get the house clean before our open house this past weekend.

Well, good thing is, the house has never been so clean. My husband even dusted all the trims and doors, while I cleaned bathroom and put away stacks of laundry. I even straightened up the closets in case anyone dared take a peek. Now if it could only stay like that for more than a day.

I read somewhere that if you fold your strawberries into the flour, they won’t sink to the bottom of the muffins, so I tried it. And it worked.

I couldn’t wait to get these babies into the oven. The recipe makes 12 muffins, so it’s a one pan deal.

I love warm muffins straight out of the oven. Plus I am always too eager to find out if they came out good.

These came out beautifully. So light, like a feather. Not like the banana bricks I made previously. They were moist, full of banana and strawberry flavor. The maple flavor was very light, not overly sweet. Perfect for breakfast or a snack. You can feel good about yourself after eating these because they have not just one, but two healthy fruits in them.

Maple Strawberry Banana Muffins

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: bake bread breakfast dessert snack banana strawberry maple syrup cinnamon muffins American spring summer

Ingredients (12 muffins)

2/3 cups light brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 medium bananas, mashed
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

In a large bowl add sugar, oil, eggs, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix on low speed with hand mixer until completely blended. Then add mashed bananas and mix until smooth.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix with a spoon until well blended, then add strawberries and gently mix until strawberries are covered with the flour mixture.

Next, add the flour/strawberry mixture to banana mixture and mix with spoon until completely incorporated.

Spoon batter into greased/lined muffin tins until about 3/4 full.

Bake at 375ºF for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and enjoy warm or place on cooling rack and eat later. Either way, enjoy!

Subscribe for New Racipies

Get mental health tips, updates, and resources delivered to your inbox.

Pear And Blue Cheese Tart

Baked Dessert

Christiana George

Updated Date:
June 8, 2023

Oops, an unintentional hiatus. And now an entire week has passed with hardly a check-in.

Weeks like the last can feel strange once they’re over. It was busy. BUSY. So that all other activities fell by the wayside. I don’t think I touched the stove at all except to heat up some canned soup (again, clam chowder). I also didn’t get the chance to take any photos for myself. Not even yesterday, when we ventured out of the city to go hiking in Cold Spring, New York.

Let me tell you, the fall foliage is stunning! We hiked to the top of a hill, where we stopped for lunch and peered down into the valley. Total tableau moment. A mottled, vibrantly-colored blanket of trees that swooped down into the valley, the Hudson River, gleaming and wide and slow, train tracks leading to the small town of Cold Spring along the shores of the river. And gosh, the town was cute. Do all New England towns look like this? Are they all so picturesque? It’s utterly foreign, just like the sight of palm tree-lined roads might be foreign to some of you. But they really do exist in California, even in random, unglamorous suburbs.

I can see why people love this season most of all. It answers the question of how the unbearable heat could possibly give way to unbearable cold. It’s done in increments, step-by-step, although on some days you feel that winter is very imminent. And on others, like today, you make sure to go outside and enjoy the sun for as long as you can.

I’m glad I have a down-filled jacket in my closet.

I made this pear and blue cheese tart a couple weeks ago. Chris gobbled it up, although he removed every chunk of blue cheese in his mouth’s way. Without the blue cheese, the tart reminds me an awful lot of a bear claw. Which I find irresistible. I mean, pear-scented puff pastry covered with almonds? Am I right?

The blue cheese fancies up the tart. I’m not opposed to that at all. It becomes sweet and salty and, well, peculiar in the way that blue cheese makes everything a little peculiar. Delicious. And perfect for the fall.

PEAR AND BLUE CHEESE TART

Adapted from Leite’s Culinaria

Makes 1 square tart

Ingredients:

1 9-inch square frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1/2 pound blanched almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1 to 2 pears, unpeeled, stemmed and thinly sliced (I used Asian pears)
Honey for drizzling
2 to 4 ounces blue cheese
1 egg white, beaten with a small drizzle of water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Use a pairing knife to score a line around the perimeter of the rectangle about 1/2 inch from the edge to make a border. Use a fork to poke holes inside the border so that the dough will remain flat as it cooks while the border will puff to create a lip for the tart.

Combine the almonds, sugar, and 1/2 tablespoon of water in a food processor and grind to a paste. Spread the paste over just the portion of the puff pastry inside the border. Arrange the pear slices over the almond paste. Drizzle with the honey and crumble the blue cheese over the top. Lightly brush the border with the egg and bake until the pastry is puffed and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before cutting into squares.