Yesterday I got a gift.  Not just ANY gift. THE gift.  A Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  To cooks it’s the holy grail of kitchen appliances.  I’m pretty certain there’s nothing you can’t do when you have a Kitchen Aid at your side (and no, this isn’t a paid endorsement).  I wasn’t sure when I might be lucky enough to have one of my very own but it turns out yesterday was the day, and I couldn’t be happier.

I had every intention of making a lemon creme fraiche and beet salad for the blog this week but as I sat drinking tea this morning and and staring at this new shiny object I made a last minute decision to whip up some muffins.  You don’t really need a stand mixer to make these banana creme fraiche muffins but, if you should have one at your disposal – by all means, make use of it!

Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups AP flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 ripe bananas
4 oz. butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1 cup sweetened coconut
1/4 cup dark brown sugar to top the muffins
This recipe yields about 16 muffins.

First, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add the bananas, let them incorporate and mush together. Next add the eggs.  Then in with the creme fraiche, coconut and finally the dry ingredients.  Be careful not to over mix.

Grease (or use liners) and fill a muffin pan about 2/3 full and sprinkle brown sugar atop the batter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.The beauty of muffins – they come together so quickly – perfect for a mid morning treat.Oh goodness! So distracted by the Kitchen Aid I almost forgot to tell you how we went about making our own creme fraiche…

What you’ll need:
1 cup heavy cream (look for pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized heavy cream if you can find it)
2 T Buttermilk
clean mason jar
coffee filter or clean kitchen towel
Simply join the cream and buttermilk together in a mason jar and cover it only with a coffee filter or clean kitchen towel.  Leave it in a warm area of the kitchen for about 16-36 hours or until it becomes thick. Once it has thickened place a lid on the jar and let it cool in the refrigerator where it should last for about a week.  Nutty, just a touch sour and easy as ever to make!