September 29, 2015

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Crumb Topping

Name: Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Crumb Topping
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 3/4 cup flour (whole wheat); 2/3 cup sugar; 2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/4 tsp salt; 2-3 bananas (mashed); 1/3 cup oil; 2 tbsp milk; 2 whole eggs; 1/3 cup brown sugar (packed); 1 tbsp flour (whole wheat); 1/8 tsp cinnamon; 1 tbsp butter (cold)

Food, My Life, Recipes, Tasty Tuesdays

That’s Right!!! Tasty Tuesday is BACK! Is it back for a day? A week ? To stay? I don’t know. But my head is swimming with thoughts of fall baking recipes, so as long as I’m riding this wave, you can share it with me.

Do you have that one recipe that can instantly transport you back to a moment in time when you can smell it, feel it and live it again? For me that recipe is banana bread. If just for a moment, I am once again fourteen, wearing my favorite hoodie, embracing the first chilly gusts of fall weather, wondering if I’ll see my crush later when I go out with my friends. Who was my crush? I dare not tell. Back in those days I already had a growing love for baking (and eating… of course I could eat 50 muffins and lose weight when I was that age). I rotated between the few recipes I was familiar with: Crumb top apple pie, peanut butter cookies, and banana bread. The rest of the world may celebrate pumpkin spice as the flavor of the season, but for me it will always be banana bread.

I’m not sure what recipe I used in those days, but for several years after leaving the nest I struggled to find one that really gave me what I was looking for. I wanted moist, buttery, flavorful banana bread that crumbles on your tongue and had just enough crust to make you work for it. I have a family friend to thank for this recipe, where I finally discovered the banana bread of my dreams. Every month or two you’ll find me opening up my recipe app on my phone and searching for “Mrs. Purchase’s Banana Bread.”

Sometime last year I decided to make the bread into muffins because my loaf pan always ended up overcooking the crust and I wanted to package my treat up in a tiny bite of fall goodness. I added a brown sugar and cinnamon crumb topping and I will never go back to baking it as a loaf again. It’s absolutely perfect. It’s especially perfect paired up with a warm cup of coffee, which is also perfect (have I said perfect too much?) because today is International Coffee Day! So make these muffins, slather them in butter like I do, and sit down with a steaming cup of something bitter (well, except for some obligatory caramel and heavy cream) and celebrate.