Lovely banana crumb muffins, with a tender crumb that is never wet or oily and with just the right amount of banana flavour. These muffins are topped with a sweet crumb, that bakes up wonderfully crispy.
2Tablespoonall-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
1/8teaspoonground cinnamon
1Tablespoonbutter, cold
Muffin Batter:
3medium(375ml)bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2cup(100g)white sugar
1/4cup(45g)light brown sugar
1largeegg, lightly beaten
1/3cup(80ml)vegetable or canola oil
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1 1/2cups(185g)all-purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonbaking powder
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/4teaspoonnutmeg
1/2teaspooncinnamon
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Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F (regular bake/not fan-assisted). Grease a muffin pan (about 9 muffin cups) with baking spray or oil or you can line with muffin liners. Set aside.
Make the crumb topping:
In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon until well mixed. Add the butter, broken into 4 chunks or so. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour/sugar mixture until you have an even crumb, similar to coarse cornmeal. Pop the bowl into the fridge while you make the muffin batter.
Make the muffin batter:
In a large bowl, whisk together the banana, white sugar, brown sugar, egg, oil and vanilla. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Add the flour mixture to the egg/banana mixture all at once, then using a spatula or spoon, stir the mixture together just until the flour is no longer visible. Don't over-mix.
Using a spoon or a scoop, divide the batter between 9 muffin cups. They should be filled almost to the top, as shown in the photos above.
Remove the crumb from the fridge and sprinkle over the batter. *You can add as much or as little as you like. The crumb does add a bit more sweetness to the muffins, so keep that in mind if you prefer a less sweet muffin. In any event, you probably won't need quite all of the crumb topping.
Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes or until golden and they test clean when tested with a cake tester or toothpick. Let the muffins cool in pan 10-15 minutes, or until they easily release from the muffin cups. Remove muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Muffins are best enjoyed on the day they are baked, when the topping is nice and crispy. The topping will soften as they sit into the next day. I generally avoid covering them too tightly. These muffins will also freeze well up to 3 months.
Notes
Tips!
I've included weight measures for the ingredients. If you have a kitchen scale, you'll always have the best baking results by weighing out the ingredients!
You can use paper muffin tin liners if you prefer, though these will come out of the pan well without them.
I like to make the crumb topping fairly fine, as I find the muffins bake up better without too much weight from a more coarse crumb on top. That said, you can make it a bit chunkier if you prefer.
You can use as much or as little of the crumb topping as you like. The crumb does add another bit of sweetness to the muffins, so keep that in mind if you prefer a less sweet muffin. Even if you add a generous amount of the crumb, you probably won't use it all.
Be sure to read the information above the Recipe Card, for more tips on making these muffins. You will also find step-by-step photos there, that you might find helpful.