banana beer muffins

In my family, we are archivists.  We cherish stories and photographs of our pasts, of where we came from.  Naturally, we also cherish family recipes, especially the original ones in our mother's/grandmother's/great-grandmother's handwriting.  My aunt shared this copy of my grandmother's banana bread recipe with us one Christmas.  Water spots (or coffee?) aside, it's my grandmother's handwriting, her right-handed handwriting, because even though she was a natural lefty, she was taught to write with her right hand at school.

And there are artists in my family.  I've always wondered where these genes came from.  I've had clues: my grandfather's calligraphic handwriting, my grandmother's pine trees -- the ones she crayoned with me on my 7th or 8th birthday.  I've never forgotten her pine trees, the way she blended the colors of wax crayons, the texture she gave them.  I had never seen my grandmother draw anything before that.  But now I wonder if it was lying dormant in her, the artistic streak?  The backside of her banana bread recipe contains a sketch by my aunt:

 

But back to the recipe.  I wanted to adapt it, to make it healthier.  So the 2012 heart-healthy version is as follows:

Mix in blender:

1/4-cup Crisco olive oil
3/4-cup sugar  1/4-cup agave
1 egg  2 egg whites
2/3-cup mashed bananas (one large banana)
3 tablespoons sour milk beer (I used Great Lakes Christmas Ale)

Sift together:

2 cups [wheat] flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir all ingredients together and pour into loaf pan [muffin tin] that has been greased and floured.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour [or 15-17 minutes for muffins].