Mmm...Muffins!

I baked these bad boys this morning. They're "Chunky Banana Bran Muffins". I got the recipe from the cookbook, Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten. I normally don't like eat bran muffins, I usually find them dry, rock-like or lacking in the flavor department. I honestly don't know what possessed me to make these, or why I was obsessed with making them for the past few days. I'm thinking it's the fact that Ina has never let me down (yet) and each recipe of hers that I have made had always come out with great results.

Usually the bran muffins that I come across are either plain or have blueberries in them. So when I read the title for this recipe I was a bit intrigued. These muffins are chock-full of raisins, walnuts, and huge chunks of banana, which are added at the end so that they stay intact. The only downside/complaint that I have is that Ina adds a lot of molasses. As in 3/4 of a cup worth. To me that's a lot of sugar to be adding to a muffin recipe. I didn't want to do any substitutions, since this was my first time making these and I wanted to see how they actually tasted and if I liked them before I start experimenting. I should also note that the molasses that I had on hand must be blackstrap or something (the container didn't specify) cause the flavor really overpowers every other ingredient. If I was going to make these again, I would definitely opt for a lighter molasses.

These muffins were overly easy to bake. I would highly recommend eating these right out of the oven though, cause when they are cool they definitely get more dense with time. But overall I like these! The raisins make each bite chewy, the walnuts add a nice subtle crunch, and the banana chunks guarantee bursts of flavor. All these additions definitely take away that boring bran-y flavor. But I must admit, I'm still on the hunt for a muffin recipe to be my go-to muffins. Any suggestions?