Banana Crumb Muffins

Well in my house it is only my hubby and myself. So, there are times when the bananas go bad. I hate that. I think that my husband secretly refrains from eating them when he wants me to bake. But that's a whole other story. I'm sure that you've had the same issue. Banana boughten and bananas rotten. I was getting sick of making banana bread everytime so I went on the search for some additional recipes a while back. I found this one and wasn't disppointed. You might think that the brown sugary crumb topping would distract from the banana flavor, but it doesn't. They work together really well. What I like most about this recipe is that it really only makes one pan. I usually get an even 12 muffins out of the recipe. 12 muffins can still be too much for a family of 2 but that's why my coworkers love me...always bringing in the treats. So mix together, one quick pan later and you're done. Great for when you are in the mood to bake but just don't have the time.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cups sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted

Topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease your muffin pan or line with paper cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Add this to the flour mixture, stirring just unitl moistened. Spoon batter into prepared cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cutt in the butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle over the muffins.
4. Bake in preheated over for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

I tried to put the crumb topping on before baking the first time and I didn't really like the way that it turned out. It was soft instead of crunchy/crumbly like I wanted. So, I wait until the last 5 minutes. I add the crumble mixture to the top of the muffins and finish baking.

Bake on!
M

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Aren't you surprised?!? Another baked good with pumpkin!! And it probably won't be the last considering I stocked up on pumpkin and have about fifteen cans in the cupboard :) Probably a little extreme, but I wanted to be prepared just in case there is another pumpkin shortage. Don't want to be scrambling and going from store to store in search of pumpkin like I was a few months ago.

As in the words of Zach's aunt, "these are damn good!" I must say I agree with that statement! I was a little disappointed when I took my first bite, but I had to remind myself that these were muffins and not cupcakes. I have gotten so used to taste testing cupcakes that I was expecting a little more sweetness when I bit in. But for a muffin, the streusel topping added just the right amount of sweetness to the pumpkin and spice. I sure am a sucker for anything with a streusel topping. And the little bit of cream cheese in the middle is the perfect surprise! Like my sister-in-law said, "it's like the frosting is in the middle!"

I found this recipe on Annie's Eats, one of the many food blogs that I read daily! She has so many mouth watering recipes and pictures. I have a hard time picking which one to make first!


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.