My Pantry Shelf

The other day when a friend offered me a whole tub of over-ripened bananas, I knew immediately what to do with them.  For a couple of years, I have been eying this recipe for banana muffins.  We enjoy banana bread fairly often, but I rarely have the 5 ripe bananas this recipe requires to dedicate to baking. This was a perfect opportunity.

These truly are Banana-Lovers’ Muffins.  With a base of five whipped  bananas and only the simplest of ingredients (flour, butter, salt, baking soda), these muffins sing of bananas.  The effect is quite different from the standard banana bread that is more bread than banana.  The bananas also lend an incredibly creamy quality to the texture of the muffin.  Indeed, though creamy is admittedly a strange descriptor for muffins, it is absolutely apt here. These muffins are moist without being dense making it easy to take down more than one with the morning coffee.

Banana-Lovers’ Muffins is adapted from a recipe from the Kona Inn.  The only thing I changed was to reduce the sugar by half.  I am not a fan of super sweet morning food.  To our family they still seemed plenty sweet with the reduced added sugar and the natural sweetness from the bananas.  We will definitely make these again.

Banana-Lovers’ Muffins

adapted from the Kona Inn

via  Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham by Marion Cunningham

makes 12- 18 muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened (plus more for greasing the pans)

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (plus more for the pans)

5 very ripe bananas (they must be  soft, otherwise they will not whip up properly)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the muffin tins and dust with flour.

Peel the bananas and toss into a mixing bowl.  Beat them with an electric mixer until they are smooth and creamy (a few lumps are fine).  Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) and whisk to combine.  Add the sugar, softened butter, eggs, and walnuts to the bananas.  Mix thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir until just combined.  Pour batter into muffin tins.  It is enough for 12 large muffins or 18 on the small side. (I make the smaller ones). If you are making 18 muffins (with 2 12-well muffin tins), fill the empty muffin wells halfway with water to ensure even cooking of the muffins.

Bake for 15 minutes, then stick a toothpick in the center of one muffin to check for doneness.  The toothpick should come out clean.  Cook for additional minutes if necessary.  When done, remove from the oven.  Let cool for 5 minutes on a rack, then slide a knife around the edge of each muffin to loosen.  Transfer the muffins to a serving bowl or platter and serve.

These muffins freeze well.

Here is a printer-friendly version of the recipe:  Banana Lovers’ Muffins

You may also like:

Berry Scones

Easy Cranberry Bread

Bacon Breakfast Strata