Our goals for this recipe were: Plenty of banana flavor–we wanted as much banana as flour in the recipe–high domes, and a light, tender muffin. It wasn’t until we thought to eliminate the egg whites that we were able to achieve our goals. Essentially, we replaced the egg whites with mashed bananas.
The keys for success with this recipe are:
- Use the ripest bananas that you can find. Ripe bananas have much more flavor.
- Adjust the flour if you have to. Because bananas differ in their moistness as they ripen, you may have to add a couple tablespoons of flour. The batter should be half way between cake batter and cookie dough for drop cookies. It should be stiff enough that it can mound in your scoop.
- Fill the muffin tins almost to the top. It takes a lot of batter to build a dome. If you fill the tins only 2/3’s full, you’ll have batter left over and smaller muffins. This recipe is designed for 12 standard muffins.
- Start out with a hot oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and then reduce the temperature as directed. The initial hot oven creates a burst of steam that helps lift the muffins.
- Check the cooking time. Because you turn the temperature down, times are only an estimate and reflect the time required in our oven. Other ovens may retain heat as ours does.
The Perfect Banana Muffin Recipe
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups ripe mashed banana
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream (not low fat)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecan or walnut pieces
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, mix the mashed banana, sugar, sour cream, vegetable oil, egg yolks, and vanilla together.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until the ingredients are mixed well. Fold in the nuts.
- Fill the well-greased tins nearly full. Use all the batter for twelve standard muffins. Sprinkle on the optional streusel topping.
- Bake for 8 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes or until done. Let sit for five minutes and remove the muffins from the pan to a rack to cool.
Streusel Topping
1/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
To make the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients and stir until well combined and crumbly. Sprinkle over the muffins before baking.
