The freezing temperatures always have me thinking about food. Okay, so just about anything has me thinking about food, but when the cold weather hits, my desire for specific recipes increases. You may be thinking I’m craving things like chili, or cocoa, and I do love those things, but one of my favorite winter recipes is my sweet and hearty sunshine muffins. They are such a treat with a hot bowl of soup or even for breakfast. And they are so easy to put together and bake. The combination of sweet pineapple and banana and the crunch of pecans, make these muffins delicious and satisfying. So bundle up and bake up a batch of sunshine.

Belle’s Sunshine Muffins

1 box carrot cake mix (dry)

3 eggs, beaten

2 bananas, mashed

1 can pineapple tidbits, drained

¼ cup pecans, diced

With an electric mixer, beat together the dry cake mix, eggs, and bananas. Stir in the pineapple and pecans. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray. Fill each tin about 2/3 full. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until muffin tops are brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. You can also make this into a loaf of bread, by placing the batter in a large loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake time will increase to about an hour.

Brenda Stanley is the mother of five children, including two sets of twins and a grandmother of three. She is a cookbook author and novelist. For more recipes and information, visit her website www.talesofthedinnerbelle.com.