Recipe: Banana Crumb Muffins

Alright, time to lighten the mood. For at least a post.

When it comes to Nick and food, there are two things I can count on.

He loves muffins.

He loves soup.

For the most part, pretty much any kind of either.

It’s like, if I want to see an insta-smile, I just make one and I’m the world best mom.

Like ever.

I haven’t yet figured out the keys to his sister’s castle.

She’s a work in progress. Particularly when it comes to food.

Last week, she all out refused to eat dinner three nights in a row.

And even went so far as to sleep through dinner to prove her point.

Little stinker.

Nick went through the same thing when he was her age, and I distinctly remember his pediatrician standing in front of us, saying “Some adults don’t eat dinner either. They’re grazers.”

Kids eat when they’re hungry. I get it, and believe it.

And darn it if Madeline isn’t set out to prove that to be truth.

When the kids are with their dad on his weekends, I try to bake some extra special treats on the Sunday when they come home. Either a fun dessert. Or cookies. Or granola bars for lunch boxes. Or muffins for breakfast.

Because it’s super easy to get more cooking done without 1,567 interruptions.

You know how it goes.

And because when there are exactly four overly ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter.

Just begging to turn into mush.

There is no better thing than to make them into muffins.

Or bread.

Or banana pancakes.

But for the case of tonight’s post, it’s muffins, so keep up.

I was looking for the recipe for Nick’s favorite Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins in a stack of recipes I have in the kitchen.

Because I was too lazy busy to go print it out.

I didn’t find it, but instead found this recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins that I hadn’t made yet.

I totally cheated when I followed the directions. And, well, mostly didn’t follow them. I mixed everything into one big bowl, instead of separating the wet and dry ingredients.

Mostly because I had just cleaned ALL the dishes that exploded in my kitchen sink, and I could finally see all my kitchen counters.

And I wasn’t about to go backwards.

While that was a good-intentioned plan, it didn’t end up that way because I went on to make two separate soup recipes and a batch of garlic bread.

So I was right back where I started before the massive find-my-kitchen-counters endeavor began.

Well, it was actually worse.

But these muffins? So yummy.

Nick smelled them (and the slow cooker split pea soup) as soon as they walked in the door.

And it was the perfect bribe for slogging through the meal I made. Because, you know, it was soup for dinner and Madeline was having no part of that. Soup or dinner.

One for dessert with a little bit of ice cream. One as a small snack later. One on the way to the bus in the morning. One after school.

I think there are like 3 left.

Nick went to town.

Craziness.

But that tells you something.

GO FIND YOURSELF SOME ALMOST TOO RIPE BANANAS AND MAKE THESE SUCKERS.

Good stuff. And for my kids who value sleep more than breakfast on school days, it’s the perfect thing to shove in their hand as we dash out of the house in the morning.

Hungry for more banana recipes?
This is our favorite recipe for Banana Pancakes. Well, the kids anyway. I am not a huge pancake fan.
This is another version with sour cream from The Barefoot Contessa.
These Blueberry Banana Pancakes got a thumbs up from the kiddos, yummy stuff indeed.

And for a fun look back, this was Madeline as a baby, loving her banana pancakes.

Tomorrow? Vitamins!

Banana Crumb Muffins
Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Topping
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2.In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3.In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4.Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

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