What a fun holiday weekend! I took a few days to get organized, clean the house, and plan my holiday cooking. Naturally, I got about 5% done of what I wanted to do, but what else is new? However, I did manage to get down to business and make one of my favorite muffins to share with you- Cranberry Banana muffins. 
These tasty muffins are made with whole fresh cranberries, sweet ripe bananas, and (my favorite for baking) brown sugar. I love the competing sweetness from the bananas to the very light tart flavor of the cranberries. The brown sugar gives them an even richer flavor, and I love the beautiful reds and pinks from the cranberries. These muffins are made in one mixing bowl to allow for easy and quick prep, and only take about 20 minutes to bake! I love the seasonal cranberry, and I like to use fresh over dried because I love the moisture and texture it adds to the muffins. I am not a big lover of dried fruit in muffins and love the bites of whole berries. These are perfect for a morning breakfast or brunch, or maybe a quick snack during the day or after school.
I am gearing up for a fun event in the next few week exclusively featuring Christmas and Holiday sweets! I am so excited to share some of the yummy things I have been brewing behind the scenes, and learn more about your holiday favorites and traditions. I am a tradition lover and really like to hear what other families do for their holiday season. One of our traditions is to go ride the Polar Express at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is a fun event featuring singing, dancing, hot chocolate (never ever let is cool!), reading of the story, and a ride on the train with a visit from Santa! The boys go in their pajamas, and it is so fun to see them enjoy the event with wide amazed eyes.
Today, we put up our lights and it was fun to plan something silly for our front yard. Ron and I love a little whimsical humor and we bought an inflatable Grinch for our yard this year. We (by we I mean Ron), strung up the lights and the Grinch is holding them as if he is pulling them from the house. The kids were impressed with our (Ron's) efforts and that is a win for us. They both have developed a love for Grinch since we saw the new movie, and I think they may currently love him more than Santa....which is fine in my book because I love the Grinch too.
Do you decorate the outside of your house? Are you team colored lights or white lights (we are team color)? Do you do inflatables (apparently we do)? Do you have those projector lights (check that off the list for us as well...we have snowflakes)? I never think of us as outdoor decorators, but as I type this I think we have officially converted.
Also, all I hear when we (Ron) are hanging lights is the man yelling, "rigging up these lights" from the song 12 Pains of Christmas.
Similar Recipes:
Cranberry Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 rips bananas
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ⅔ cup fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners and set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, mash bananas in a large bowl.
- Add oil, salt, sugar, egg, and vanilla and mix until evenly incorporated.
- Add baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Mix until all ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Gently mix in the cranberries and evenly distribute batter into the baking cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from tin and allow the muffins to cool.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Mahy Elamin
These looks really good. I never would have thought to mix bananas and cranberries but I bet this are just perfect for breakfast!
Dan Zehr
We love banana breads of any kind at our house too. I love the addition of cranberries instead of chocolate chips for a change. Pinned and will give this a try.
debi at Life Currents
These are so pretty. That color! And they will be delicious for breakfast tomorrow.
Karyl Henry
I always plan to decorate the outside of my house...and I've had outside lights for years...but I still never do it! This is the ONE time when I feel "I need a guy around the house" LOL ":) Loving these muffins, and a great way to use up leftover cranberries
Mirlene
I love love love muffins. They are so easy to make and goes well any time of the day. I have some cranberries left from the holidays. I cannot wait to try this recipe. I know my kids will enjoy it as well.
Veena Azmanov
Cranberry and Banana is always a perfect combination. Love how simple and easy this recipe is. Can't wait to try.
Jyothi (Jo)
Muffins looks really good. Got to love cranberry and banana combination and the colors are so pretty
Marisa Franca
What pretty muffins. Using the fresh cranberries gives them additional color! I was planning on just making gift boxes with cookies and candy but seeing your cranberry banana muffins inspires me to add them too.
Gloria
I love freshly baked muffins. These look like a delicious way to start the day, or with a latte in the afternoon. They would be great the kid's lunchboxes too.
Catalina
Banana muffins are definitely a weakness of mine! The addition of cranberries is such a genius idea! Need to make these immediately!
Deborah
These look so festive and fun to make. I'm going to sub the dairy w/ non-dairy and make these this coming weekend. Can't wait to taste them.
Ruchi
Cranberry is my favorite berry to cook with all year around. I love to use it in smoothies, cookies and of course, muffins!
Bevyn Cassidy
I'm so excited to try this recipe. I love cranberries but have never paired them with bananas. I'm sure these muffins will be a hit! Do you think using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar will hinder the taste?
Stine Mari
5 % sounds just about right in my house too. I've never tried cranberries with banana, but I'm not surprised it's a killer combination. It sounds like the perfect pair, especially with the brown sugar. Yumm!
Kelly Anthony
These look like the perfect muffin. I love your Grinch lights idea. My kids are really into the grinch as well. Holidays are so fun!
Amanda
Banana has always been my favorite kind of muffin. I love that you added cranberries for a fun seasonal twist. These would be perfect for Christmas morning!
Jacqueline Debono
Love these muffins! I also prefer fresh berries to dried fruit in muffins. These would also work with blueberries or wild strawberries too! (I have lots of those in my garden in the early summer!) So many possibilities!
Krista Price
I never have all of the ingredients on hand for baked goods, but I actually have EVERYTHING for this recipe. I can't wait to make these this weekend! Thank you so much for sharing!
April
You got me on this recipe straight away! I mean I love banana muffins A LOT! I also enjoy cranberry everythinng A LOT! But when you combine those two - I get my favorite type of food and I want A LOT of it! 🙂
Chef Mireille
that vibrant cranberry filling peeking through looks so good and inviting. I will definitely try to try these as now is the perfect time when cranberries are in season!
Renu
Banana and Cranberry would have made an awesome combo. I have few cranberries lying around and now I know a perfect use of it.
Stephanie Simmons
These look like such a fun breakfast treat to have on hand during the holidays! I've never tried cranberry with banana but it sounds scrumptious!