Maybe it is just me but in my kitchen bananas seem to go from inedible green to perfectly golden yellow then to brown in a matter of days. This leads to the never ending kitchen question is what to do with bananas that are beyond their eating prime. So what is a banana loving cook to do? Enter these tasty banana muffins from Food 52.
Now these aren’t your ordinary banana muffins. Using overly ripe bananas ensures that the muffins are sweet and filled with banana flavor. The batter is then spiced with both cinnamon and ginger but the best part of the muffin, in my opinion, is the streusel topping. Not only does it add a delicious crumbling topping to the muffin but it contains chocolate chips which add a sweetness all their own. So yes you can eat chocolate for breakfast. After all it is paired with bananas.
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 2 medium bananas)
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Stir in the egg, vanilla, and banana and mix well to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and ginger.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined.
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin tins.
- In a small bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients except for the chocolate, mixing with a fork or your fingers until combined.
- Add the chocolate and mix well.
- Crumble the streusel topping over the muffins.
- Bake for 18 to 25 minutes. The tops should feel just set and the edges of the muffin should be starting to turn golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan until cool enough to remove.
Yields 9 muffins