JULIE WELLS: Sweet mini muffins a time-saver and crowd-pleaser

Good things do come in small packages, even if the small package happens to be in the shape of a mini muffin.

Sometimes you simply do not have hours to be busy in the kitchen making everything from scratch. Sometimes you need a simple homemade recipe that not only tastes good, but can also be whipped up in a flash. Today’s recipe fits that bill — Joyful mini muffins, named after my daughter Joy.

I’ve tried making several cookie and muffin recipes using bananas as my base, instead of using flour and sugar. I’ve made a few good ones, but this one tops any of the recipes in my recipe box.

I was surprised by the ease of this recipe, but I was more amazed at the fact that in less that 15 minutes I could be enjoying these little mini muffins and that included mixing and baking time.

The only drawback is that this recipe calls for peanut butter and that’s not good for those allergic to peanuts. For those who suffer from peanut allergies, they could try sunflower butter as an alternative.

These muffins seem to have the perfect amount of sweetness and you can taste both the banana and peanut butter.

I even taste-tested the recipe on Joy, and she liked this one more than any others I’ve given her. She said, “Mommy, this is good.”

This week my little girl turned 3, and I made these for her birthday. Today’s recipe is dedicated to her.

Joy is surrounded by people who like to cook in our family, and she loves to get in the kitchen and help. We let her help because there are a lot of lessons that can be learned in the kitchen besides measuring ingredients. Most importantly, she’ll have the memories made in the kitchen with her forever.

Happy birthday, my sweet little joyful girl.

Joyful mini muffins

What you need …

One medium to large ripe banana