Muffins and a hurricane. Dorian passed through last week and we are fine and grateful but other parts of the OBX were not so lucky. Here is a great way to help a very special foodie in Ocracoke whose business was destroyed. Meanwhile, Joey, Bear, and I spent hurricane day watching the storm and making Banana Pecan Muffins with Streusel Topping. Dramatic skies and a neighborhood on the verge of disruption really brings out the need for comfort food and these muffins hit the spot. Let’s talk nutty, cinnamon-y baked goods, shall we?
Make it rain bananas and cinnamon
So, this started as a frustrating banana bread recipe that never, ever baked completely in the middle for me. Muffin-ing it easily solved that problem and these silicon liners are muffin/cupcake-life-changing. Amazing – nothing sticks to them and I swear they help things bake more evenly. Then, because I can’t even look at a muffin if it doesn’t have some kind of yummy topping – a pecan cinnamon streusel was the next logical move. While you’re toasting and chopping pecans for the topping, might as well throw some in the muffin batter for extra yum. And let’s not forget, the best banana baked good party begins with some mushy, stinky, spotty bananas. They should look about like this:
The sugars in these bananas are ready to play and they make these muffins super fragrant and… banana-y. They also take the place of some of the refined sugar in a friendly, natural way, so that’s cool. Combined with a little melted butter, eggs, yogurt for tenderness, and a healthy splash of vanilla, it’s like banana heaven around here. That wet stuff gets folded into typical dry stuff – flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in those roasty, toasty pecans. Then, celebrate your muffin accomplishments by garnishing them with a streusel mixture of more toasty pecans, sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Y-U-M. Watch those suckers bake up to big, puffy, amber perfection and dig the heck in.
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Banana Pecan Muffins with Streusel Topping
Fluffy and fragrant banana muffins studded with toasted pecans and topped with a cinnamon-y streusel! So good, you guys!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 27 minutes
- Total Time: 42 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Brunch, Snack
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 C all-purpose flour
- 1 C sugar, divided (reserve 1/4 C for topping)
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided (reserve 1 TBS for the topping)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 C plain greek yogurt (see notes)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 C pecans, toasted and chopped, divided (reserve 1/2 C for the topping)
- 1/4 C packed light brown sugar
- 1 TBS cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a muffin pan with reusable silicon liners or muffin cups.
- For the streusel topping, combine 1/4 C sugar, 1/4 C brown sugar, 1 TBS butter, 1/2 C toasted and chopped pecans, and 1 TBS cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
- For the muffins,whisk the flour, the remaining 3/4 C sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Place the bananas in a medium bowl and mash with a fork; to the bananas, add the remaining 7 TBS of melted butter, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the remaining 1 C of pecans. Do not overmix; the batter will be lumpy.
- Using a 1/4 C measuring cup as a scoop, fill the muffin cups. Sprinkle streusel mixture evenly over top of each filled muffin cup. Bake for 27 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
I used 2% fat yogurt and I like to let it sit out for 10 minutes or so before adding it to the mix – otherwise, it causes the melted butter to solidify again. Just take the yogurt out of the fridge before you begin and you’ll be all set.
For more banana goodness, be sure to check out these Healthyish Chocolate Banana Muffins!
