Bake for Your Librarians!

Bake for your local librarians! Show your appreciation for your benevolent book folks with these yummy-and-easy homemade treats. (No, they don’t have PB in them—sadly, you have to be aware of allergies when you bring treats to a public place—but at home, we split them and spread the cut sides with PB, smoosh ‘em together, and snarf ‘em up!) They’re fantastic-o!

BANANA APPLESAUCE MINI-MUFFINS

Low-fat, no cholesterol, and a tasty way to use up overripe bananas!

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled, depending on how much mashed banana you have. (Start by measuring the bananas—you can always add extra applesauce in their place if you don’t have enough.) You can also use this recipe to make standard-size muffins (bake for about 18 minutes or until golden-to-medium brown) or an 8x4x2 loaf (bake about 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden-to-medium brown and a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean).

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon (or more, to your liking—I add tons!) ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 slightly beaten egg whites
3/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup cinnamon applesauce
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cooking oil
nonstick spray coating

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spray a 24-muffin mini-muffin tin with nonstick spray coating.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.
4. In a large mixing bowl, slightly beat the egg whites, then add the rest of the wet ingredients.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until moistened.
6. Fill the mini-muffin tins and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are golden-to-medium brown.

*If you don’t have cake flour, just substitute all-purpose flour, and try not to over-stir the batter or it will become gluey.

ENJOY!