Basic Banana Muffins

I've been a bit MIA due to family emergencies, the craziness of the end of the school year, and just life in general.  My mother is feeling a bit better after a nasty bout with diverticulitis, but until yesterday, she was on a special low fiber diet to give her stomach a chance to recover.  Low fiber is pretty boring and cut out lots of her favorite things, like my maple pecan banana muffins, which she was craving after terrible hospital banana muffins.  Since pecans were off the menu for her for 10 days, I decided to find a new banana muffin recipe that wouldn't feel like it was missing something if the nuts were cut out.  I have made lots of banana recipes before, but they all seemed to have something extra, whether it be pecans or even bourbon.  I wanted these muffins to be calming to her stomach but still tasty, and I came across this recipe.  Nothing wild or fancy, but they promised to be moist and nutritious, so I gave them a try and brought them over to Mom in the morning before work.  They were simple and easy to make; truly no frills baking!

They were just what we expected: sweet, soft, moist muffins bursting with banana flavor, without anything crazy.  They are, as the recipe suggests, basic banana muffins.  If you're not baking for someone on a low fiver diet, feel free to toss in pecans or walnuts or chocolate chips, but for my mother, they were just what they needed to be!  She thought in the humidity they got a little wet as the days went on, but we discovered that they were delicious toasted and buttered... in fact, that is how I preferred them! How have I never toasted and buttered a muffin before? What else have I been missing out on in this life?

Recipe:

basic banana muffins
from Taste of Home
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 medium ripe bananas
1 large egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a muffin tin or line with paper cups.

2) In a  large bowl, combine dry ingredients.  In another bowl, mash the bananas.  Add egg, oil and vanilla; mix well.  Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fill muffin cups half full.

2) Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted neat the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.