When I had my first baby, I was determined to bake all the time with him. When he was about eight months old, I was making something in my brand new kitchen aid mixer, and he was playing with a measuring cup. And much to our surprise, he manages to throw it right into the mixer, that was busy mixing. The measuring cup won, and my kitchen aid broke. It felt like it was all downhill from there. But whenever I was in the kitchen, helpers shorter than my knee seemed to appear, and I hated it. I used to be super uptight and feel annoyed at the (lack of) help they provided, and it was never enjoyable.

Somewhere, somehow I had a change of heart. I think it was because I thought of my childhood. Growing up, my mom ALWAYS let my sisters and I be a part of everything she was doing, and I never remember her being mad about spilled ingredients or messes left behind. I learned how to read a recipe early on, I felt the freedom to explore the kitchen and create my own “recipes,” and I have so many memories in the kitchen with her and my sisters.

As a result, I was somehow able to loosen the reigns on my baking. Saving the baking that I knew I couldn’t handle the extra hands with, for times that the little people were busy or sleeping. And just enjoying the time spent with my kids doing something I love with them. As a result, it has become one of my most favorite activities we do together (and watching baking competitions) and I am always asking if they want to help me. We talk, we laugh, and we eat. Just this summer, Tracen tried his hand at making eclairs (with much success), and it felt like a win for us both.

This recipe is a family favorite, and Rai is seriously the best at making these. He takes pride in his muffins that his older brother will only eat if Rai has made them ( he swears he can taste a difference if I make them). We experiment with the ingredients a bit, and some new flours and chocolate chips and whatnot, and we prefer them just the way they are typed here but have never had a batch go uneaten.

They are moist and flavorful, and mashing bananas is every kid's dream. So if you have kids that want to help in the kitchen, try this out with them. And if you don’t, try this out.

Rai’s easy banana muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

3-4 large bananas mashed

½ cup white sugar

1 slightly beaten egg

1/3 cup sunflower/coconut oil, or melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (or other flour of your choice)

Optional, but encouraged: ½ cup of chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin tin with liners or grease muffin tin.

2. In a mixing bowl, mash bananas. Mix in sugar, egg, oil, and vanilla.

3. Mix dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl: baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour.

4. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour in chocolate chips and mix until evenly throughout batter.

5. Scoop into a muffin tin, so each is 3/4 full. Put into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Notes: we have had a lot of success trying out different flours, oils, applesauce, gluten free flour and flax eggs. Give it a try. I think that they key to a light muffin is to not over-mix the batter.