Do you get tired of reading about "great" recipes... but when you try them they really don't turn out like you wanted?

There really are "secrets" to baking incredible muffins -- light, moist, delicious. But for some reason (even in such great books as Joy of Cooking or James Beard's books) the recipes only tell you the "what" and don't really tell you the "how".

Read on. You're about to learn how to make the best (and easiest) homemade banana nut muffins you ever tasted.

Relax. "Equipment" doesn't mean anything fancy. In fact, these muffins don't even require hauling out the big mixer or buying some elaborate kitchen doodad you've never heard of.

All you'll need is two bowls -- one large, and one medium-sized. For the medium-sized one, I use my one-quart measuring cup -- but if you don't have that, you can just get out two bowls. One large spoon. Your muffin tin. That's it!

The ingredients are divided into "wet" and "dry" -- the wet goes into one bowl, the dry into the other bowl:

Wet ingredients (2 cups total):

2 or 3 ripe bananas (no, they don't need to be dark though if they're over-ripe, that's okay, too)

one egg

1/3 cup MELTED butter or margarine

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. strong coffee (if you don't have leftover coffee, you can use water)

milk or buttermilk -- enough to make 2 cups TOTAL of wet ingredients (if you use 3 bananas you may only need a few tablespoons; if you use one banana, you may need to add 2/3s cup or more)

DRY Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts if you prefer -- I think pecans are the best)

The trick (and there really is a trick) to making incredible muffins has to do with the mixing part. Read all of these directions through first, before you start doing anything, so you'll know what you're supposed to do.

First, preheat the oven to 350. Preheating is important -- the muffins should go into a fully preheated oven.

In the SMALLER bowl, put all of your wet ingredients -- make sure you mash your bananas thoroughly with a fork. Then use that same fork to completely stir in the egg and other wet ingredients.

In the LARGER bowl, put all of your dry ingredients and mix them with your large spoon. Make sure your ingredients are fully incorporated -- that is, you want the baking powder/soda to be completely distributed through the flour.

Now here's the part nobody seems to point out: add your wet ingredients to your dry ones -- and fold them carefully with a few swift strokes. This is incredibly important. DON'T OVERMIX! There will even be places where the flour is still dry. I fold about 8 or 10 times -- carefully -- but the mixture will look lumpy and "not quite" fully mixed together. This is the way they're supposed to look.

If you mix it till it is the consistency of cake batter, you've gone too far and you'll end up with simply average muffins. Yeah, they'll still be good... but this recipe is for making *incredible* muffins.

:-)

Spray your muffin tin with Pam. If you don't have Pam you can grease them lightly with shortening.

Spoon the (lumpy) batter into the muffin tin -- it's okay if you end up filling the holes all the way to the top. Don't pack the batter -- just spoon it into the muffin tin.

Sprinkle sugar on the tops -- don't be shy! This sugar will make a glaze as they bake that is really fantastic.

Spray the sugar with Pam (this step isn't completely necessary -- but I think it makes the tops of the muffins look even better.)

Put them into your already preheated oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, check the muffins with a toothpick -- does the toothpick come out clean? You may need to bake them for another 5 minutes. Ovens differ -- you'll know when they're done. They'll look fantastic! I usually have to bake mine for 24 or 25 minutes.

Let them cool for about 5 minutes, then use a fork to carefully lift them out of the muffin tin. You can keep the muffins in the tin for 10 minutes so they'll stay warm (they really are best fresh out of the oven) -- but don't let them become cool while still in the tin -- they become difficult to get out.

That's all there is to it. Your loved ones will rave about these moist, perfect muffins!

Leftover muffins? (It's rare... but it happens.) Wrap them in a paper towel and pop them in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

Enjoy!