Presley Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

I grew up in Tennessee, about 2 hours or so from Memphis, which is where Elvis Presley lived. I’ve been to Graceland and I’ve heard his music for years, but it wasn’t until I moved to Utah that I learned about one of his favorite foods: peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Some stories say that he liked bacon on the sandwich, too, but most reports say it was just peanut butter and bananas.

I’ve made this kind of sandwich before, and thanks to a recipe from Paula Dean, I added cinnamon sugar to the bread and then heated it in a pan. YUM!!! It can get kind of messy and gooey to eat, which would normally be fine, but I wanted to try something that would make breakfast easier during the workweek. So, I took my Great Aunt's banana bread recipe, turned it into muffins, and put the Presley/Paula flair on it.

Here is what you need:

• 3 or 4 very ripe bananas
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbs cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar mixed with cinnamon to taste

Here is what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place 18 cupcake liners in muffin tins or spray with cooking spray.
3. Mash bananas and then mix in baking soda, peanut butter, butter, and eggs.
4. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients, excluding the cinnamon sugar mixture.
5. Fill muffin tins with batter until 2/3 full.
6. Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar then bake for 21 minutes or until toothpick comes out without anything on it.
7. Let cool on counter for 5 minutes.
8. Remove and serve with Nutella instead of butter and a glass of milk.
9. If you’re feeling really brave, add cooked, crumbled bacon in batter before baking or sprinkle on top of batter instead of or in addition to cinnamon sugar.

This easy muffin recipe will have you singing sweet tunes in no time!

PS ~ Let your kids help with mashing the bananas, combining the sugar and cinnamon, and putting the cupcake liners in the muffin tins. They'll have a blast!