contributed by Dame Donna Pierce
My mother loved cashew nuts so much, her three daughters gave her a box of fresh roasted nuts for each birthday. One year, my grandmother created these muffins using cashew crumbs from the large box we had used babysitting money to purchase. Feel free to substitute pecan or walnut pieces for the cashews. If you don’t have a ricer, mash very ripe bananas with the back of a fork until mushy.
Yield: 1 dozen large or about 36 mini-muffins

Ingredients
3 ripe bananas
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup each: brown sugar, milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon each: almond and vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped roasted cashew nuts

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Press bananas through a ricer into a large bowl or mash well with a fork; stir in butter, white and brown sugar, milk, egg and extracts. Set aside.

3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; stir in to banana mixture. Add 1/2 cup of the nuts.

4. Spoon batter into lined mini-muffin tins. Top muffins evenly with remaining 1/4 cup of crushed nuts. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 16-18 minutes.