Blueberry banana muffins

At least once a summer, I get a craving for blueberry muffins. There's something about the way a blueberry bursts in a baked good, staining everything around it with that intense indigo hue. Sure, you'll end up with a purple tongue and the skins in your teeth when you're done, but it seems like a bit of minor inconvenience for something that tastes so good.

I decided to look around for a blueberry muffin recipe that was a little different from the ordinary. The classic combination of white flour, sometimes scented with lemon, is a classic, but I wanted something a bit heartier, and dare I say, healthier?

I stumbled across this recipe, and as I had some bananas going soft anyway, I picked up some wheat germ at the store and got started.

Here's the bowl of dry ingredients, wheat germ included.

Then, mix up the wet, and add in the eggs.

Mash those bananas!

And fold in the berries. These aren't the wild ones I like, but they are cultivated Canadian ones, so I didn't feel too awful about them. Plus, on sale at Farm Boy!

Filling up the muffin cups. A scoop makes this bit easy.

And here they are cooling in front of the window. What a great Sunday morning treat!

Healthy blueberry banana muffins (from Martha Stewart)

•1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
•3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
•1/4 cup wheat germ
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
•1/3 cup granulated sugar
•1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
•2 large eggs
•2 ripe bananas (about 1 pound)
•1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
•1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
•1 cup frozen blueberries

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.

2.In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.

3.With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.

4.Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

Banana "ice cream"

Is there a better season than summer to truly appreciate ice cream?

There's not much better to celebrate a hot, sunny day than a bowl, or cone of icy, creamy goodness. I like ice cream in most of its forms, and am not really picky about flavours (though I probably would pass on strawberry). I think I've eaten ice cream, or some variation, in almost every country I've visited, from the refreshingly lemony gelato in Italy, to custardy ice in Portugal, and even to pretty passable stuff in Cuba, which is surprising given the skinny state of any cows we saw.

But since all those places are pretty far away, I needed a much closer solution for my ice cream craving. When I saw this recipe on TheKitchn for easy ice cream using only one ingredient, and I happened to have that one ingredient in my own kitchen, it was a convenient coincidence.

I've used frozen bananas before in smoothies, and know they lend a nice texture, but have never thought to enjoy them just on their own. But why shouldn't they make a great "ice cream"? They should -- and do!

I'm not even going to call this a recipe, because it's ridiculously simple. Start by chopping up two ripe bananas into coin-sized pieces and freeze them. Two hours should do it, but I left mine for about two days before I got around to doing anything with them, and they were fine. (Though I would recommend wrapping your plate in plastic wrap if you leave for more than a couple of hours to prevent browning.)

Frozen on the plate, and a bit tricky to remove. I left the plate on the counter for a minute or two while the fruit softened enough.

Then add the frozen pieces to a blender, or food processor and whiz to your heart's content. I used my mini chopper for this job. I also added a spoonful of coconut, because banana and coconut go so well together.

Blend for a bit and you'll end up with a silky mix you'll swear is actually ice cream. Taste it and you would think dairy somehow jumped into your blender when you weren't looking. It will even form scoops just like the real thing!

My combination with coconut was yummy, and next time I think I might add in a scoop of peanut butter. You might also think about adding in chocolate chips (dark or white), or walnuts might be good too.

So stay cool this summer and give banana ice cream a try!