Jen Russum

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In the Kitchen: Banana Muffins

This weekend I discovered why it’s far better to make banana muffins instead of banana bread. Here are the facts:
  1. You don’t have to use a mixer. Apparently, muffins are fluffier when the dry ingredients barely mix in with the wet, so I just mashed my bananas with a fork and stirred the rest of the ingredients together. I love my Kitchen Aid, but don’t like hauling it out of the cabinet or cleaning it and with muffins you don’t have to deal with it. {This factor makes the recipe very kid-friendly.}
  2. Muffins only take 25 minutes to bake as opposed to the hour it takes for banana bread.
  3. They bake more evenly too. Sometimes it’s hard to get banana bread done on the inside while not getting too dry on top.
  4. Muffins are easier to keep fresh. You can put them in a plastic bag or container. I never really know how to keep a whole loaf of bread fresh. I usually wrap it in foil or plastic and it still dries out a bit. It also gets crumbs all over the counter. Ugh.
  5. You aren’t committed to eating ALL the muffins like you are committed to eating a whole loaf of bread once you cut into it. You can eat as many muffins as you want for the first day or two and then pop the rest in the freezer for easy breakfasts or snacks later on.

I think it’s pretty obvious that banana muffins win the battle. I might never make banana bread again…

What you need:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar (sometime I do 1/2 white sugar, 1/4 brown sugar)
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
2 TBSP sour cream {optional}
1/4 tsp. cinnamon {optional}
What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat muffin pan with non-stick spray or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Add any optional ingredients {sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon} to the wet mixture. Fold in flour mixture, and stir until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans. They should approximately half full before baking.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Muffins are done when they spring back when lightly tapped. Recipe makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins.
Notes:
This recipe is super flexible. I happened to have sour cream in my fridge, so I added about two tablespoons to increase moisture. I also added a little bit of cinnamon after reading comments online. I highly recommend these additions, but if you don’t have the optional ingredients on hand the recipe will still taste great!

Comments

  1. We make banana bread all the time, but never even thought to do muffins! We'll have to try it. Also, I use 1/2 c of vanilla greek yogurt. Makes them super yummy.

  2. We like to do muffins instead of a loaf, too! The first time I had it this way was when my MIL was staying with us for a few days a week or so after I had Grayson. We had some bananas that were going bad and she offered to make banana muffins. Viola! Genius ensued! 🙂