Banana Nut Crunch Muffins

First let me say Happy Father's Day to my Dad and my Grandfather!  And Happy Father's Day to all the other Dads out there!

Muffins are such a great food.  They're a portable breakfast-in-your-hand that require no utensils, and sometimes double as a late-night snack.  What I didn't realize until I baked these particular muffins, is that muffins can also fill your kitchen full of a scent so wonderful that you temporarily forget that other foods exist and declare that you want to smell this coming from the kitchen every morning for the rest of your life.

I first made these muffins a couple of weeks ago, and they quickly jumped to the list of "you must make these every week.  Every day is also acceptable".  But I didn't actually get a chance to make another batch until Friday night (I get the urge to bake at what some may consider to be very random times of night).  I had a few bananas left over from the frozen chocolate-covered bananas (a nod to snacking at Walt Disney World) I'd thrown together a couple of nights previous, and I couldn't just let them go to waste.

In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt

In a second bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, brown sugar, egg, canola oil, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined

In a third, smaller bowl, make the crumb topping by combining brown sugar, flour and cinnamon and whisk together.  Add in butter with your fingers until mix resembles cornmeal

Grease jumbo-cup muffin pan(s) and fill about 1/3 of the way full of batter.  Sprinkle some of the crumb topping over the batter, then sprinkle with a few chopped walnuts

Top with batter until cups are about 2/3rds full.  Finish by generously sprinkling (there will be plenty) with more of the crumb topping and additional chopped walnuts

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out cleanly.  Let cool briefly in pan(s) before removing to a rack to cool

Here's the recipe (adapted from one for Banana Crumb Muffins on Allrecipes.com)
Muffins:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Topping:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2T flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1T butter
 1/4 cup chopped walnuts


1) Preheat oven to 375.  Grease jumbo-cup muffin tin(s).
2) In large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a second bowl, beat together the bananas, sugar, brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined.
3) Prepare the crumb topping: whisk together the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.  With your fingers, work in the butter until mix resembles cornmeal.
4) Fill muffin cups 1/3 full of batter (I used a cookie scoop to obtain a relatively consistent size); sprinkle with the crumb topping mix, then sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
5) Finish filling muffin cups to about 2/3rds full.  Generously sprinkle the tops with more crumb topping mixture and then more chopped walnuts.
6) Bake for 18-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean (you may see a little bit of banana, just use your judgment).  Cool briefly in pan(s), then remove to wire rack to cool.


Makes 8-12 muffins, depending on how full you fill your cups and how big your muffin tins are.


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