Queen's Surf Banana Muffins

Well, after my silly rants on the last post, I thought I'd share these awesome banana muffins with you. They're an old favorite, and I do mean old. The recipe originally came from the popular Queen's Surf restaurant in Waikiki, which was torn down years ago. Note below for a bit more of the history.  I occasionally make a few updates, of course. There's crunchy, toasted macadamia nuts and chunky, crystals of raw sugar on top. I added some grated lemon zest, for a bit of citrus zing, and a little nutmeg and ground cardamom to heighten that mellow banana flavor.

What usually sets me off on a recipe quest is the sight of something like this. And the awareness of 4, yes four more large bunches of bananas in various stages of ripening. Have I mentioned just how good these sweet little Apple Bananas are? Got to be the most sought after variety for growing here in Hawaii.



So, out comes the faithful recipe card for banana muffins from the Queen's Surf. I'm also going to try Ilva's Chocolate Banana Bread, posted just the other day (her April 10th entry). Maybe with big chunks of dark chocolate. Yum.

Over the years, I've tried various and sundry additions to the basic recipe, dried or fresh fruits - pineapple is especially good, nuts in or on top, brown sugar, or honey, instead of the original plain sugar. This time I used brown sugar, a full, packed 1/2 cup, instead of the 3/4s cup sugar called for, which to me, is sweeter than I prefer. The flavors were heightened with lemon zest from one lemon, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom and 1/2 teas. nutmeg. Also, I used AP flour instead of cake, which I never seem to have on hand, and sifted only once with all the other dry ingredients, instead of three times. One day, I'm actually going to do what I'm told, just to observe the difference, if any. I may also separate the eggs and whip the whites to fold in next time. Here, I'll give you the historic, original version, for tradition sake, cut down to proportions for one dozen.

The Queen's Surf Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter (4 oz)
3 ripe bananas, mashed (a few bigger chunks are ok) and double the amount for smaller varieties like the Apple Banana
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teas. salt
1 teas. baking soda

Cream sugar and softened butter, add bananas and well beaten eggs. Sift dry ingredients together three times and blend with batter. Don't over-mix.

Pour into greased muffin pan and bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Cool on rack and enjoy!



These muffins were topped with sprinkles of raw Turbinado sugar and toasted, chopped macadamia nuts. If you don't happen to have macadamia trees in your garden, like I do, pecans or walnuts would be great. And, since the bananas, lemon and mac nuts are grown by us, I'm entering this post in April's edition of the Grow Your Own event.



For some background information notes:

Queen's Surf Restaurant and Nightclub

Queen’s Surf, built 1916 across from Kapiolani Park on Waikiki Beach, became Fleischmann’s Yeast heir, Chris Holmes' beach house in1933. Acquired by the city of Honolulu around 1946, following Holmes’ death, it was leased to Spencecliff Corporation which operated it as the hugely popular Queen’s Surf Restaurant and Nightclub. Closed down 1969 by Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi in a lease dispute the building was demolished in1971.