Morning! I've got so many recipes to share with you, I figured I'd start off with these delicious Banana Muffins today. They also happen to be dairy-free and soy-free, so for those of you who have food allergies, you can still enjoy banana muffins. And for those of you who don't have food allergies, these are quite possibly some of the best banana muffins I've ever had/made, so don't let the dairy-free and soy-free factor distract you from making and enjoying them. I'm sure some of you are asking, why is she going dairy and soy free? Well, because I found out almost 2 weeks ago that Vivi has some kind of food allergy and because I'm solely breastfeeding her, it's something that I'm eating that's causing some digestive disruptions. So for 3 weeks (I'm down to 1.5 weeks, woohoo!), I need to go dairy and soy free in order to get a clean system for her and then we can determine which of the two is causing her problems.

At her next checkup, if her system is cleared (fingers crossed!), then I'll introduce either dairy or soy back into my diet for a few weeks and then see how her system is doing. It's all process of elimination so it could take a few months to determine the cause. But the thing that's keeping me optimistic is that these types of food allergies in babies is that she'll eventual outgrow it. That's what I'm hoping for!

Anywho, I've been finding and testing recipes at home since it's been near to impossible to find baked goods (and a whole lot of other things) at establishments near me that are dairy and soy free. Luckily for me, this banana muffin recipe is so easy to make that it's a definite mainstay around here. And I'm pretty sure it'll become a mainstay for you too!

Enjoy!

Ingredients
Recipe from Dairy and Soy-Free Mom

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups smashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 to 6 bananas)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plain rice milk
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Line a 12-muffin tin with muffin liners. I just greased a muffin pan since I was out of liners.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Whisk the banana, oil, rice milk, eggs, salt, and vanilla in another bowl.
- Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients.
- Pour wet ingredients into the center; then stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are just moistened but still lumpy. Do not overmix the batter or your muffins will come out dense.
- Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin, filling each cup to the top.
- Put the muffins in the oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
- Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking. (Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin to check if it is done. Toothpick should come out clean).
- Cool muffins in the pan on a rack for a couple minutes. Turn the muffins out of the pan and cool on the rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature. I refrigerated the muffins and enjoyed them for several days until we ate them all.