Completing the trio

I polled Brad and Cass and their muffin ranking, on average, turned out to be: (1) pumpkin (Cassie's favorite), (2) banana (Brad's favorite), and (3) blueberry (my favorite, but they're not going in my lunch). It's a good thing they like pumpkin muffins so much since I spent the last six weeks trying to get that recipe just right. By now they're ready for a change, so this week I completed the trio of standard options by making banana muffins for the first time in a while.

This recipe didn't need nearly as much work as the pumpkin muffins. I increased the flour a little bit to make a fuller muffin, and swapped in some whole wheat flour while I was at it. I added some yogurt for extra moisture to balance out the increased flour, then tweaked the leavening (more baking soda) to reflect the addition of an acidic ingredient (the yogurt). That's all the tinkering I had to do on this one.

Banana Muffins 1.5

Adapted from The Weekend Baker (2005) by Abigail Johnson Dodge

Time: 35 minutes (17 active)

The original recipe says to use bananas that are so "completely black ... that you might be tempted to throw them out." Bananas taste sour when they're that overripe, so I use them when they're just beginning to turn spotty brown. You can use as much (even 100%) or as little whole wheat flour as you like, without having to make any changes to the recipe.

Version 1.5 streamlines the recipe by making it all in one bowl.

3 medium, ripe bananas (~400 to 450 grams total, including peels; ~300 to 340 grams, peeled) (see note)

2 large eggs (about 57 grams each in the shell) 

1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract

150 grams (¾ cup) light brown sugar

⅓ cup olive oil (71 grams) or melted unsalted butter or coconut oil (75 grams)

60 grams (¼ cup) plain yogurt or buttermilk or kefir

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, optional

150 grams  (1⅓ cups) regular or white whole wheat flour

125 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour (see note)

½ cup chopped walnut or pecan pieces (60 grams) or mini chocolate chips (85 grams)

Coarse sugar such as turbinado, for sprinkling (optional)

 

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray.

    2. Using a potato masher or a fork, mash the bananas with the eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk in the sugar, oil or butter, and dairy until blended.

    3. Sprinkle over the baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cloves, and whisk until combined.

    4. Add the flour(s) and nuts. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold everything together until just combined. Don’t overmix.

    5. Scoop the batter into the muffin tin. A slightly rounded #16 scoop (¼ cup) works well for this job. There should be about 80 to 85 grams of batter in each well, which will be nearly full. Sprinkle each muffin with coarse sugar, if desired. Skip the coarse sugar if you're not eating the muffins the day you make them as the sugar gets soggy by the next day.

    6. Bake until the muffins are golden brown, springy to the touch, and a tester inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean, about 18 minutes.

    7. Cool for no more than 5 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack. These are best eaten the day they’re made, but they also keep in a ziplock bag in the fridge for at least a few days (though they don't keep as well as blueberry or pumpkin muffins).

Gluten-Free Banana Muffins

Substitute 275 grams gluten-free flour blend for the flours, and add ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum in step 3.