Hello, hungry readers! It’s been quite a while!
2012 has been pretty crazy for me so far… new classes, a decent amount of traveling, exploring summer opportunities. Pure craziness. In a good way, of course!
But despite being so busy, I’ve decided, as a sort of New Year’s resolution, to cut back on caffeine. What what what am I thinking? Not exactly a decision that is compatible with the college-freshman lifestyle. (Ironic side note: I just drank a medium iced coffee from Au Bon Pain. Oops.)
I don’t just love coffee, though. I love coffee shops as a whole. The atmosphere, the aroma, the tantalizing displays of baked goods. Such a great combination.
Lately, I’ve been especially tempted by the varieties of muffins and cakes at these cafes. Blueberry, chocolate chip, triple berry, banana walnut – the list goes on and on.
Generally speaking, whenever there are bananas in my house, half of them are eaten and the other half become overripe. In other words, that other half becomes banana muffins. As in this very case.
These muffins are the quintessential coffee shop muffin. They are big, messy, moist, cake-y, full of cinnamon, and all around over-indulgent. The banana flavor is somewhat subtle as the focal point of these is, not surprisingly, the streusel. The streusel, which creates a lovely ribbon through the muffins as well as a hearty topping, adds wonderful crunchy texture that contrasts nicely with the smooth, melt-y chocolate chips.
Banana Coffee Cake Muffins with Chocolate Chip Streusel
Slightly adapted from Epicurious
1 ¼ C. semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 C. (packed) brown sugar
½ C. chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 ½ C. all purpose flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
¾ C. sugar
½ C. unsalted butter, room temp.
1 large egg
1 1/3 C. mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
¼ C. sour cream, room temp.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a muffin tin with muffin liners.
In a bowl, stir together chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. Sift flour, baking soda and powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and egg in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in mashed banana and sour cream. Add dry ingredients and blend well.
Fill each muffin cup half way with batter. Top generously with streusel. Spoon remaining batter over streusel layer. Top each muffin generously with remaining streusel. Bake 28 – 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
Yields 12 Muffins
