Banana Crumb Muffins

As with most things I bake with bananas, these came around because I had some bananas on the edge of no return, haha, so rather than going in the trash or compost pile, these bananas turned into delicious muffins.

I added some fresh ground nutmeg and cinnamon to the muffin batter, and increased the butter in the crumb topping because I wanted slightly larger crumbs.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Adapted from "Banana Crumb Muffins," by Lisa Kreft

www.allrecipes.com

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon for finer topping)

~Preheat oven to 375 °F.  Prepare muffin tins with liners.

~In a large bowl, mix together the 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and the 1/4th teaspoon cinnamon.

~In a medium bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter.

~Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture, and mix just until incorporated.  Fill your liners about two-thirds full.

~In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and cinnamon.  Cut in the 1 1/2 tablespoon butter until evenly mixed in.  Sprinkle evenly over muffin batter in tins. (Using my fingers for this part helped me to break up the pieces even further)

~Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (I checked after 16 minutes)

~Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then continue cooling on a wire rack.  Enjoy!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Banana Muffins

The original recipe called solely for chocolate chips, but I had some peanut butter chips lying around and I couldn't resist!  Bananas and peanut butter go together so well.

I enjoyed these, as they were not too dense and relatively easy to make.

I only had nonfat greek yogurt in the fridge, so that's what I used, and they turned out fine.

The best thing about muffins is that you don't have to wait for them to cool! haha

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Banana Muffins
Adapted from Lois Gordon's Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
allrecipes.com
Makes 15-17 muffins

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (took me 2 large bananas)
• heaping 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• heaping 1/3 cup peanut butter baking chips

~Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Prepare muffin tins with liners.

~In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

~In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, egg, vegetable oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract.  Add flour mixture, and whisk just until incorporated.

~Fold in the mashed bananas, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips.  

~Fill your liners about two-thirds full and bake for 20 to 24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (21 minutes was spot on for me, and I had 15 good sized muffins)

~Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then remove muffins to a wire cooling rack.  I recommend trying some while still warm, enjoy!

Chocolate Hazelnut (Nutella) Cupcakes

The only thing I changed about this recipe was axing the chopped hazelnuts, and I don't think the cupcakes missed them.  The cake itself has a very subtle Nutella flavor, so feel free to be heavy handed with the frosting!  I had snacked on some of mine, so my cupcakes were a little short, lol.  If you feel like making Nutella buttercream frosting as opposed to pure Nutella, I would highly recommend upping the chocolate factor of the cake.

These came about because I'm a Nutella addict and didn't feel like crepes that night.  Sliced bananas and/or sliced strawberries as cupcake toppers would take this over the edge, but as my cupcakes had a while to go before being eaten, that wasn't practical this time around.

These are definitely cupcakes that can be enjoyed still warm.  Mine kept in a covered container for several days.


Nutella Cupcakes
Adapted from The Cupcake Bible, Publications International, Ltd.
Makes 16-18 cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups Nutella (this includes amount used as frosting)
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• chopped hazelnuts (I don't like nuts, so I skipped this)

~Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners.

~Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

~Beat a 1/3 cup of your Nutella with your (hopefully) softened butter in a large mixing bowl.  I'm crazy and whisk everything by hand, but an electric mixture will make your life easier here. Beat in the sugar until well blended, then mix in your eggs and vanilla.

~At this point add about a third of the flour mixture, alternating with about half of the milk.  Done correctly you will start and end this process with the flour mixture.  Beat just until blended.  Spoon your batter into the prepared muffin tins, no less than two-thirds full.

~Pop these little guys in the oven for 19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  (I personally check at 17 minutes as I cannot stand over-baked cakes.  Checking in 2 minute intervals should keep you safe.)

~Cool in pans for 5-10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire racks.

~Hopefully by this point you haven't snacked on the remaining Nutella, so you can use it to frost your cooled cupcakes.  Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts, and enjoy!


Update

Tried the sliced banana addition, soooo tasty!  Reminds me of Crepes-a-go-go in Berkeley, yum.