Banana Crunch Muffins

evelyn/athens's Note:

These are from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa book. They are wonderful!

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 18 large m ...

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ lb unsalted butter , melted and cooled
• 2 extra large eggs
• ¾ cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe banana (1 banana)
• 1 cup small pieces walnuts
• 1 cup granola cereal
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• dried banana pieces (optional) or granola cereal (optional) or shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners.
3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
4. Add the melted butter and blend.
5. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla and mashed bananas, and add then to the flour-and-butter mixture.
6. Scrape the bowl and blend well.
7. Don't overmix.
8. Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola and coconut into the batter.
9. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top.
10. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired.
11. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
12. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

Reviews

[MommyWhoBakes]

I made these for the first time yesterday morning and I must say they are delish! I have had them on my list of recipes to try for a while and I am glad I did. I only added 1/2 C coconut to the batter and used pecans instead of walnuts (what I had on hand). I live in Colorado and sometimes have a hard time with muffins here. These turned out beautfully and are even better the next day in my opnion. The banana flavor intensifies overnight. :) I am excited to try adding some healthier substitues and play around with this recipe. Thanks for posting!

[ShaGun]

These look nice and taste fine. I made these to use up unwanted Kashi Go-Lean cereal. I replaced the 1 c. of walnuts with a second cup of cereal. I don't really like the crunchy addition, but that's my personal preference. I wouldn't make these if I wasn't trying to use up granola, but these are a good way to get rid of unused cereal. These made 27 regular-sized muffins. I baked them for 17 minutes.

[Heather'sKitchen]

Outstanding!!! The flavors and textures in these muffins are so wonderful! I made one healthy change, which was to use only half of the butter called for, adding one extra mashed banana in it's place. They came out amazingly moist! I divided the prepared batter into 24 paper lined muffin tins, filling to the tops, and topped with extra granola. I then put the tins into the freezer overnight. In the morning I put them into a cold oven, turned it on to 350F and baked for 25 minutes. The result was perfectly baked muffins and a super easy, on the run breakfast, that the whole family loved. Thanks so much for sharing this fabulous recipe!