3.5 days and Banana Crunch Muffins

Since we are now only 3.5 days and a wake up away from Paris, I thought I'd share another archive photo. This pic was taken New Year's Day 2005 with our friends R & S from Arlington, Virginia. They have been our travelling companions on multiple trip to Paris and are awesome. This is the thumb statue at La Defense!! Isn't it awesome?




This morning I spent at a great holiday breakfast hosted by my running, shopping, all around best friend, Sally. I made these delish banana crunch muffins that I found on the Barefoot Contessa area of the food network website. I just love everything Ina makes. Here's the recipe:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs 3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
**dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix. Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve warm.