B-a-n-a-n-a-s! Go bananas, go, go bananas! On weekends or during a stay-cation, when time slows down, I like to experiment with recipes. And for whatever reason, I’ve been craving banana nut muffins. Having piles of baked goodies in the kitchen is a recipe for an expanding waistline around here, so the first batch of this concocted recipe went to work. No one there complained, but Son B and The Hubby grumbled. (I guess leaving one muffin for them was a stinker move.). To redeem myself, I reworked this Cream Cheese Filled Banana Nut Muffin recipe and the results are, well, bananas. Through trial and error, here’s a few tips…
1.) Don’t over mix the batter. To build the muffin batter, use a pastry cutter to cut the ripe bananas and granulated sugar together. Then add the egg, vanilla, oil and spices. Most recipes say to add cinnamon and nutmeg with the dry ingredients, but adding it to the wet stuffs ensures spices are throughout the batter. Add the dry ingredients and walnuts; and stir until the flour is just incorporated.
2. Use taller parchment liners (aka Tulip liners). For years I’ve used the traditional cupcake/muffin liners. But anytime a recipe needed additional layers or had a lot of volume to it, the cupcake or muffin oozed, burnt and spilled out. The solution is these liners, which can be purchased online and in most grocery/craft shops today. The Kitchn shows you how to make your own liners here.
3. Cool muffins for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Set your timer and stick to it. When it goes off, remove the muffins from their pan and set on the wire rack to cool completely. If you leave muffins in the pan to cool, they continue to bake and will get tough bottoms. Nobody likes tough bottoms. Enjoy!
Bakery Style Cream Cheese Filled Banana Nut Muffins
- Prep Time: 20-30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 23-25 Minutes
- Total Time: About 1 Hour
- Yield: 12 Muffins 1x
Ingredients
For Streusel Topping:
1–1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1–1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt (table, kosher, or sea)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For Cream Cheese Filling:
1–8 oz. block cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 c. powdered sugar
For Banana Nut Muffins:
3 large ripe bananas
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/3 c. vegetable or canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1–1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (table, kosher or sea)
3/4 c. chopped walnuts, plus about 1/4–1/3 c. for topping
Instructions
To Make Streusel Topping:
In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients until evenly mixed with a fork. Pour in melted, cooled butter and toss to evenly combine. Stir until no dry ingredients remain, and do not make into a paste. You’ll want a combination of medium and large crumbles. Put bowl into refrigerator until needed.
To Make Cream Cheese Filling:
Using a hand-held mixer, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Set aside.
To Make Banana Nut Muffins:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. (I recommend using parchment paper tulip style liners to achieve a higher muffin.). Set aside.
In a large bowl, use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the bananas into the granulated sugar. (You’ll want to have smaller chunks of banana.). Stir in egg, oil, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and 3/4 c. walnuts. Stir until no flour is visible.
Using an ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, place about 1-2 T. of batter into the bottom of each muffin liner. Scoop a tablespoon of cream cheese filling into the center of the batter. Top each muffin with remaining batter. Then top each muffin with streusel crumbles evenly using a tablespoon. Sprinkle remaining 1/4-1/3 c. walnuts over each muffin. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove muffin tin to a wire rack for only 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove individual muffins to the wire rack to cool completely.
IMNPB
Recommended To You
