Week 4: "I'm Bananas" Banana (Nut) Crumb Muffins

I love bananas. And all desserts that taste of or like bananas: Chunky Monkey ice cream (or other banana-based ice creams), banana splits, banana cream pie, banana fudge cookies, etc. I'd say, really, that they're my one true weakness in life... since I'm not actually a hugeee dessert person. (Exceptions mostly for things that taste of, like, or made from fruit. Clearly, banana falls into this category.)

Our torrid love affair began in the first grade. I was invited to a family friend's birthday party, and they served a Big Bird birthday cake (extra points for the Sesame Street theme)-- a big, yellow, creamy, and banana-heavenly cake that I've never forgotten. It was love at first bite (in a totally non-creepy, non-Vampire way).

It was only natural, then, that I'd want to make some sort of banana muffin. In anticipation/preparation for week 4, James and I stocked up on bananas a week in advance. The bananas were exciting: soft, brown(ing), and over-ripe to perfection for our...

Banana (Nut) Crumb Muffins

Caroline came out for the first time (the gang's complete!) and mixed zealously. She also did some whispering. This, as we shall see in subsequent weeks, turned out to be key for the success of our muffins.

Myla came bearing gifts... she made chocolate chip cookies!-- which we devoured quickly-- to help fuel our tired arms.

James tried to sneak one too many tastes of the batter-- on the one hand, it's great because it means that the batter is delicious. On the other hand, though... we have a lot of muffins to make :p

And Pete made more crumble-- using brown sugar this time and a slightly different ratio of ingredients. Not to worry, though: the resulting crumble was just as delicious as our first.

They look delicious, no? Mmmm.

I didn't make any drastic changes to the recipe this time around-- I just added an extra banana, a pinch more cinnamon, and 1/2 a cup of walnuts (banana and walnuts = love). I did think about adding vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg-- as some users suggested-- but, in the end, I decided against it. And I definitely think that was the right decision: the banana flavor released slowly, tantalizingly in my mouth, and I think the additional spices would probably have detracted from that.

We did over-mix the batter-- I forgot to stop the gang, despite the "warning" in the recipe--, but it didn't seem to affect the end-product too much. The muffin was extremely moist! It was difficult not to scarf it down, actually, but I think it's best savored and enjoyed... seriously, it's banana heaven. And 3 out of 3 taste testers agree. (Okay, I just made that number up, but we DID get a number of "These are the best muffins ever!" comments and quite a number of repeat requests.)

Wanna have a go at it? Here's the recipe:

"I'm Bananas" Recipe (Banana (Nut) Crumb - Modified; Original/Base Recipe here, Courtesy of Lisa Kreft, AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients:
Muffin Batter:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur's)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup walnuts

Crumble:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (King Arthur's)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease the muffin tin or line with muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1-1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat together the mashed bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon of butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle over the muffins batter.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes.

Yes, we have no bananas!