Banana Muffins with a Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Crumb Topping

This past Tuesday, the special education team at the elementary school I work at celebrated a couple team birthdays with a delicious breakfast. My contribution to the breakfast was these banana muffins. At first I had planned on making quiche, but then I realized that I would not have enough time to make it on Monday night. I started a class in Towson on Monday nights - 52 miles away from my house - and I got home past 8. I was not happy that I went all the way to class and we spent the first 1.5 hours of class (out of 1.75 hours) on introductions! Anyways, I decided on trying a new recipe that looked quick and easy. I just made them the morning of the breakfast, so they were still warm when they were served. They were quite yummy, and I have made 2 batches since then! Greg and I love the muffins. The best part of the muffin is - you guessed it - the crumb topping. Mmm! If you want a quick, easy, and delicious muffin recipe, try out these banana muffins. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Recipe for Banana Muffins with a Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Crumb Topping

Makes 10 - 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS:
For the muffins
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
5 1/2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
3 medium bananas, ripe to very ripe
For the crumb topping
4 Tbsp. of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of each cup in a 12-cup muffin tin.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put the sugar into a large bowl. Use your hands to squeeze/mash the bananas into the bowl with the sugar. Add in the egg and melted butter. With an electric hand mixer set on medium-low speed, combine the banana and sugar mixture until very smooth (about 1 - 2 minutes). Pour in the flour mixture into the banana mixture and mix until dry ingredients are well incorporated. Use a spoon or cookie dough scoop to fill each muffin tin with the banana muffin batter.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add in the butter and use your hands to incorporate butter into the mixture, until the mixture becomes crumb-like. Sprinkle a generous amount of the crumb mixture over the tops of the batter in the muffin tin. Place in the oven and cook for 11 minutes, then rotate the muffin pan and cook for another 11 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan. Then use a knife to pop each muffin out. Store muffins in an airtight container.

Recipe Adapted from: All Recipes

Love banana? Try these healthy & gluten-free banana oatmeal cookies! 

Chocolate Cranberry Coconut Banana Bread (CCCBB)

We live in a world filled with acronyms. I would like to take the opportunity to refer to this delicious chocolate cranberry coconut banana bread as "CCCBB," because chocolate cranberry coconut banana bread is quite a mouthful! I made this CCCBB last weekend. It was enjoyed for a couple days, but Tuesday night I put some in a container for Greg to take to work, and I left the bread on the counter ALL night long. I woke up to see it on the counter, and although I could have sworn I had put it back in the fridge, my tired brain must had forgotten. It was kind of (really) sad to have to throw it away. Luckily it is really easy to make and I might just have to make a loaf of CCCBB this weekend. Banana bread is a great comfort food, so if you need some comfort, try out this recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe for Chocolate Cranberry Coconut Banana Bread (CCCBB)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of flour
3/4 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
1 cup of granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas (medium to large in size)
1/3 cup of part skim ricotta cheese
1 1/4 tsp. of vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup of dried cranberries (such as Craisins)
1/3 cup of sweetened shredded flaked coconut

DIRECTIONS:
Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then, in a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer set on medium speed. Mix until the sugar and butter are well combined (3 - 4 minutes). Add in the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each egg is added.

In a smallish bowl, beat together the bananas with an electric hand mixer on medium-low speed until they are mashed well. Add the bananas to the butter and egg mixture. Stir in the ricotta cheese and vanilla extract, and mix on low until they are blended. Add in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) to the wet ingredients. Beat until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Add in the chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and coconut. Use a spoon to gently fold them into the batter.

Pour or spoon the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick pricked in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then carefully transfer loaf out of the pan and allow it to cool completely on a cooling wrack.

*Makes about 12 - 15 pieces (unless you accidentally leave the bread out on the counter overnight...).

Recipe Adapted from: Recipe Boy

NOTE: 
Looking for a great set of mixing bowls? You will love the Cuisinart stainless steel mixing bowl set with lids.