Banana, Peanut Butter, and Date Muffins

Bananas are a favorite of mine. I always buy more than I need so I can eat a few, and then bake with a few.

More often than not, I reach for a standard-issue banana walnut bread recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box. I’m not sure whose hand wrote out the recipe. Certainly not hers, because I can actually read it.

My grandmother’s handwriting was notoriously illegible. Reading anything she wrote was a great adventure that required moderate patience, a decent amount of eye-strain, and feelings of euphoria when you finally interpreted the message. “Learning shorthand ruined my handwriting!” she claimed.

Similar to that feeling of accomplishment, I also gain an interesting amount pleasure from seeing just how long I go before I actually have to step foot in a grocery store.

Like my Dad, who runs out of gas more often in a year than any one of us will in a lifetime, says: It’s amazing how far you can go if you just keep driving. It’s amazing how many lunches you can pack if you just keep reimagining leftovers.

That’s how I found myself staring at a pile of ripe bananas and a container of dates. Fortunately, soon thereafter I found myself staring at this banana, date, and peanut butter muffins recipe.

These are a nice change from the banana bread I’m used to, and the addition of dates and a few seeds shakes up more traditional banana peanut butter muffins. Not to mention, they are rather delicious. Enjoy!