Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Crumb Top Muffins

It is very rare that I have a chance to make banana bread or muffins. Our little Spencer is half monkey and eats at least 2 bananas a day. And if we don’t have bananas in the house, watch out, because he can throw the biggest fits you’ll ever witness a toddler do if he doesn’t get what he wants when he wants it! Love my little man, yes I do, but our baby really knows how to make a scene! When he does it in public, I just let him go nuts. He stomps his foot as hard as he can, balls his hands into fists and screams. It is actually funny watching him try to stomp that hard because his legs are so short that he almost tips over trying to get his leg high enough to stomp down, lol. After about 30 seconds and smoke is bellowing from his ears, I shake my head and tell him, “No, no, no. You are doing it all wrong!” I then show him how to stomp several times and to shake his fists and wiggle his hips all at the same time. His face just lights up and he instantly starts laughing because I look sillier than all get out. That’s how I deal with his tantrums and they never last longer than a minute. Folks who happen to witness this exchange often start chuckling. Toddlers are toddlers, they are meant to throw fits. It is just part of the developmental stage they are in. Anyone who ever took Human Growth and Development in college knows this (and all of us “seasoned” mommas who aren’t on their first rodeo knows this too). Erikson knew what he was talking about, Freud, not so much, lol! Those who don’t understand it are the ones who are easily annoyed by a toddler’s antics. And if you are disapproving of anything about my children, get back because I can flip on a dime and turn into a psycho Filipino shouting incoherent sentences! Yep, I have that in me, lol.

 

So back to why I have extra bananas, Steve Jr. had some of his fellow football teammates over a few days ago and the hubby bought the boys donuts, bananas and orange juice for breakfast. Steve didn’t want them eating too much before we dropped the boys off at football practice. So the extra-bananas were not as ripe as the ones we had on hand. So Spencer got the new bananas and the older ones became over-ripe and came in handy! We finally had some bananas to bake with! I love the fall for so many reasons, one of them being the smells from our kitchen. Baked apple pies or bean soup smells so good when baking or cooking! I have to tell you though, our Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Crumb Top Muffins made the whole house smell amazing when it was baking! You would think Martha herself was hanging out in my kitchen! Say that three times fast: Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Crumb Top Muffins, Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Crumb Top Muffins, Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Crumb Top Muffins! LOL That is a mouthful! And so are our muffins! I adapted this recipe to come up with this dynamite breakfast treat . . . who am I kidding? This isn’t just for breakfast! I’ll be snacking on these puppies all day long! They are super moist and super delicious!

 

Ingredients for Muffin Batter:

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 4 over-ripe bananas, mashed

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 egg

• 1/3 cup melted butter (or margarine, that is what I use)

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• 1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips

Ingredients for Crumb Topping:

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 tablespoon white sugar

• 1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon cold butter (or margarine)

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 15 muffin cups (or use cupcake papers). I don’t care to get shortening under my fingernails so I use an old trick. I stick my hand into a sandwich bag and grease my tins this way. No fuss, no muss and just toss the sandwich bag away! Note: the muffins will raise above the tin so don’t forget to grease the top of your muffin tins!

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Set aside.

In another bowl and using an electric mixer, mix up bananas, 3/4 cup sugar, egg and melted butter at medium speed till smooth. Fold in the chopped walnuts and milk chocolate chips.

Stir the wet mix by hand into the dry mix just until the dry mix is moistened. You don’t want to over stir this. Why? Hecks if I know, lol. I just know that every banana something recipe I’ve ever read over the years said to do it this way so who am I to go against a gazillion bakers? lol Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tins till about 1/4 inch from top.

In a small but deep bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon white sugar, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of cold butter. It’s easiest to do this using a fork. After mixing vigorously with a fork for a couple of minutes, the butter should be in tiny pieces and the mix crumbly.

 

Spoon the crumb topping on top of the muffins (approximately 1 tablespoon for each muffin).

Bake for 17-19 minutes. Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool completely in the muffin tins.

If cupcake liners were not used (like in these photos), use a butter knife to gently loosen the sides and to lift the muffin out of the tin. Store in a tightly covered container. For how long? I wouldn’t know, they were gone by the afternoon! Get ready for a flavor explosion as you take a bite of these incredibly moist muffins!