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Why It Works
- Tossing flour, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, and floor cinnamon with melted butter leads to a satisfyingly crunchy streusel topping.
- A mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg give the muffins a heat spiced observe.
- Baking the muffins at a excessive temperature (425°F/220°C) provides them an preliminary carry; decreasing the temperature to 375°F (190°C) permits the muffins to complete baking evenly.
Bananas might be unpredictable: They will go from agency and inexperienced to a brilliant speckled yellow, then practically black, within the blink of an eye fixed, leaving you with overly ripe, comfortable fruit. You may freeze them for banana ice cream and smoothies and, after all, bake them into banana bread. My most popular technique, although, is to show them into hearty banana-nut muffins. They’re straightforward to freeze and thaw, and since they’re pre-portioned, they make a handy snack or breakfast when my household and I are on the go. All I’ve to do is chuck them right into a zip-top bag—not like banana bread, there’s no slicing required.
The recipe beneath comes from my Birmingham, Alabama-based check kitchen colleague Tricia Manzanero Stuedeman, whose aim was to give you a luxurious banana muffin flecked with walnuts. Bitter cream provides the muffins a nice tang, and its acidic nature reacts with alkaline baking soda to offer the muffins their carry. The muffins additionally get a dose of heat from cinnamon and nutmeg, and vanilla extract brings a fragile floral observe that enhances the sweetness of the brown sugar and ripe bananas.
To high all of it off—actually!—Stuedeman garnishes every muffin with a crunchy walnut streusel earlier than popping them within the oven. The result’s a bakery-worthy muffin that captures the perfect of banana bread: Tender, moist, aromatic, and simply candy sufficient.
The recipe was developed by Tricia Manzanero Stuedeman; the headnote was written by Genevieve Yam.
These Bakery-Worthy Muffins Seize the Very Better of Banana Bread
Cook dinner Mode
(Hold display awake)
For the Walnut Streusel:
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1 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (42 g; 1/3 cup)
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1 ounce chopped walnuts (28 g; 3 tablespoons)
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1 1/4 ounces gentle brown sugar (33 g; 2 1/2 tablespoons)
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1/4 teaspoon floor cinnamon
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1 ounce unsalted butter, melted (28 g; 2 tablespoons)
For the Muffins:
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5 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (160 g; 1 1/4 cups)
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3/4 teaspoon baking soda
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1/2 teaspoon baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon floor cinnamon
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1/4 teaspoon floor nutmeg
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8 3/4 ounces mashed ripe bananas (245 g; about 1 cup) from 3 medium bananas
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2 ounces bitter cream (60 g; 1/4 cup), at room temperature
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5 ounces gentle brown sugar (142 g; 2/3 cup)
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2 ounces unsalted butter (2 ounces; 4 tablespoons), softened
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1 3/4 ounces impartial oil (50 g; 1/4 cup), akin to canola
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1 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity
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1 massive egg, at room temperature
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2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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2 1/4 ounces chopped toasted walnuts (63 g; 1/2 cup)
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Alter oven rack to center place, and preheat oven to 425°F (220ºC). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper or silicone liners.
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For the Walnut Streusel: In a medium bowl, whisk flour, walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon collectively, breaking apart any sugar clumps by hand, if wanted. Stir in butter till properly mixed. Put aside.
Critical Eats / Jen Causey
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For the Muffins: In a medium bowl, whisk collectively flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg to mix. Put aside. In one other medium bowl, whisk collectively mashed bananas and bitter cream. Put aside.
Critical Eats / Jen Causey
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In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat brown sugar, butter, oil, and salt on medium velocity till fluffy, stopping to scrape down sides as wanted, about 1 minute. Beat in egg and vanilla till mixed, about 10 seconds. (Recipe can be ready in a big bowl with an electrical hand mixer.)
Critical Eats / Jen Causey
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With mixer on low velocity, regularly add flour combination, alternating with banana combination in two additions, and beat till practically mixed, about 2 to three minutes. Utilizing a rubber spatula, fold in walnuts till simply mixed. (Don’t overmix.)
Critical Eats / Jen Causey
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Evenly divide batter between ready muffin cups (about 1/4 cup per cup). Prime every muffin with about 1 1/2 teaspoons Walnut Streusel).
Critical Eats / Jen Causey
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Bake 5 minutes. Scale back oven temperature to 375°F (190ºC), and bake till a toothpick or cake tester inserted in middle comes out clear, about 10 minutes. Let stand in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Fastidiously take away from pan; serve heat or at room temperature.
Critical Eats / Jen Causey
Particular Tools
12-cup muffin pan, muffin liners, stand mixer or hand mixer, toothpick or cake tester, wire rack
Notes
Should you don’t really feel like making a streusel topping, you possibly can high every muffin with 1/2 teaspoon of Demerara sugar and 1 teaspoon chopped walnuts. Calmly press walnuts into batter, then bake as directed.
Make-Forward and Storage
The streusel might be made as much as 1 day upfront and refrigerated in an hermetic container till prepared to make use of.
As soon as cooled, muffins might be saved at room temperature in an hermetic container for as much as 3 days or refrigerated in an hermetic container for as much as 5 days. If refrigerating, let muffins come again to room temperature earlier than serving. Muffins might be gently reheated in a microwave or 325°F (160°C) oven earlier than serving.
Muffins might be frozen for as much as 1 month. To freeze muffins, prepare them in a single layer on a 9- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. As soon as frozen, switch to a zip-top bag. Let muffins thaw in fridge in a single day earlier than serving.
