Moist, tender banana bread muffins finished with an easy cinnamon praline crumb topping drizzled with simple vanilla cream icing.
JUMP TO RECIPEI stare down overripe bananas at the end of every week and wonder what to do with them. You can only make so much banana bread before your entire family is OVER it.
This week I had an entire bunch that hadn’t gotten eaten and I just couldn’t bring myself to toss them. So I started rooting around under the cabinet for my loaf pans.
I spied my muffin tins and thought, meh, let’s change it up and make muffins instead. But I still wasn’t enthused.
No matter how good I grease the pan, I find that I have to overcook muffins and cupcakes to get them to come out clean (and I hate dry, overcooked baked goods) so I started looking around for cupcake liners.
Which I didn’t have.
Boy, I was getting closer and closer to throwing the bananas in the trash because this was all starting to feel like a chore and knew nobody around here was going to get excited for more banana bread even if it was in the shape of muffins.
OK, Mandy, snap out of it. Put your game face on and do better. Think. Make this fun! You are NOT the boring banana bread lady!
So I made some fresh, hot coffee, put my classic country playlist on (verrrry loud) and went at it. What? sorry, I can’t hear you, the music is too loud, mmmhmmm yeah I don’t know, go ask your dad… Down on the corner, by the traffic light, everybody’s looking as she goes by… they turn their heads and they watch her till she’s gone…
I decided to add cinnamon and make a crumb mixture that I hoped would turn into a praline-y, crumble-ish topping then finish them with a simple icing drizzle.
And because they call me MacGyver of The Kitchen [nobody calls me that] I cut parchment paper into squares then lined my muffin tin with them so my banana muffins would look swanky.
AND!! I’m happy to report that my friend Mary actually thought they came from a bakery!! I gave her a couple in passing the other day and she said she first thought that because the liners were so professional looking. Holla!!
When The Baby, The Boy and Husband walked though later, every one of them stopped to asked what smelled so good. This is kind of a big deal because they’re used to the kitchen smelling like random food at all hours since I cook for a living. Then Husband followed me around until I was done taking pictures so he could have the first bite.
Attagirl, Mac.
The other obvious thing to do when you have too many bananas is to make BANANA PUDDING (just had some with Sunday dinner as a matter of fact!). Here are the two recipes I make the most:
TIPS FOR MAKING CINNAMON STREUSEL BANANA MUFFINS
- Use vegetable oil instead of butter. I know that seems just wrong somehow (like how can oil taste better than butter??) but oil will always yield moister muffins (and brownies too!) so when you’re working with something like bananas which pack a lot of flavor, you really won’t miss the flavor from the butter.
- Do not – REPEAT: DO NOT – overmix the batter. I mix everything but the flour first so I can really combine it well then I add the flour and mix it only until the white of the flour can no longer be seen.
- You already know this one but, you need to use overripe bananas. They are soooo much sweeter and the flavor is much more concentrated.
- You really do need to use both baking soda and baking powder. A dense batter like one used for banana bread or muffins is very heavy so it needs extra leavening agents, but using too much of either baking soda or baking powder in any recipe is a bad thing. Too much baking soda will alter the taste (bitter, metallic or soapy). Too much baking powder will cause the air bubbles that are created to grow too big, too fast which will either leave giant holes in the bread/muffins or the bubbles will pop and the batter will fall before it sets.
UPDATE/CAUTION: I have made these without liners twice now since I first published the recipe. They turned out perfectly in my Wilton pan which has visibly wider muffins than my other pans. When I made them in another, more "standard" size muffin tin, the batter cooked over the edges - it didn't run over the sides of the pan and make a big mess but it came close. Unless your muffin tin is for larger than standard muffins, you should line it with "bakery-style" liners (usually brown craft paper), cut 5" squares from parchment paper (like I did above) or underfill the tins a bit - filling no more than 3/4 full at the most. The bakery-style or square parchment liners allow the batter to rise while still containing it.
Recipe for Cinnamon Streusel Banana Muffins
Cinnamon Streusel Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 small bananas
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- Cinnamon Streusel Topping
- Simple Vanilla Cream Icing (optional)
- 1/4 cup flour
- Pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by greasing well or using cupcake liners.
- Peel bananas then break into pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Using the back of a fork, mash the bananas (some lumps are OK but we’re looking for a pretty wet mash).
- Add egg, sugar, vanilla and oil then mix until very well combined with a whisk.
- Add baking soda, baking powder and salt then mix well.
- Add flour then mix until just combined (do not overmix).
- Spoon batter evenly into muffin tin then sprinkle with Cinnamon Streusel Topping.
- Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 25 minutes or until centers of muffins are firm when pan is jiggled.
- Allow muffins to cool 5 minutes (in pan) then drizzle with Simple Vanilla Cream Icing (optional).
- Cool completely (still in the pan) then store at room temperature.
- Add all ingredients to a small bowl. Break up brown sugar if hard lumps are present.
- Cut butter into dry ingredients until only small lumps remain (I just use my fingers but the back of a fork or pastry cutter will work).
- Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and ONE tablespoon cream then whisk until smooth. Add more cream as necessary until desired consistency is reached.
Notes
- UPDATE/CAUTION: I have made these without liners twice now since I first published the recipe. They turned out perfectly in my Wilton pan which has visibly wider muffins than my other pans. When I made them in another, more "standard" size muffin tin, the batter cooked over the edges - it didn't run over the sides of the pan and make a big mess but it came close. Unless your muffin tin is for larger than standard muffins, you should line it with "bakery-style" liners (usually brown craft paper), cut 5" squares from parchment paper (like I did above) or underfill the tins a bit - filling no more than 3/4 full at the most. The bakery-style or square parchment liners allow the batter to rise while still containing it.
- Half & Half or milk can be substituted for the heavy cream in the Simple Vanilla Cream Icing but the higher the fat content of the liquid, the better the icing!
- I haven’t had a chance to make them but I’m POSITIVE these would be amazing with applesauce instead of mashed bananas. I’ll report back once I’ve made them that way and let you know how much to use.
- I’m sure this batter could be used to make a loaf of banana bread but I haven’t tested it and don’t know how long it would take. I would bake at 350 for about 45 minutes then check with a toothpick to see if it’s done.
They do look very professional and super delicious. I can see why you got all that fanfare!
ReplyDelete