A couple weeks ago I scored a deal on bananas—14 overripe bananas in a bag for $1—and bought a bag with plans to make muffins, smoothies, and freeze a few, only none of them made it to the freezer because we used them up. I had wanted to try this banana muffins recipe from The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread, and this was the perfect opportunity. (Cookbook review)
The recipe made a large amount of batter and I had to abandon the usual instructions about filling a muffin cup 2/3 full because the cups overflowed with batter. The baked muffins were large and hearty with a lot of texture, and one was more than enough for my breakfast or a snack, though my hungry crowd seemed to disagree.
Banana, Bran, and Toasted Walnut Muffins
Adapted from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread, by Amy Scherber and Toy Kim Dupree.
Author: Andrea Meyers
Recipe type: Bread
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 2-1/8 cups (312 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2-1/4 cups (160 g) wheat bran
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1-3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2-1/2 cups (500 g) mashed ripe banana
- 1 cup (2 sticks) + 2 tablespoons (250 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large (100 g) eggs
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, packed
- 1-1/3 cups (150 g) walnut pieces, toasted
- 1 cup (150 g) sliced ripe banana
Preparation
- Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350° F/175° C.
- In the large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat bran, baking soda, and kosher salt.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, beat the mashed banana and the softened butter until mixed. It may look lumpy, but that's ok. Add the eggs and brown sugar and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Gently fold the flour mixture into the banana mixture, just until combined. Don't overmix. Then fold in the toasted walnut pieces and the sliced banana.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin cups. Take care not to overwork the batter. The batter will be mounded over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 23 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The muffin tops should be medium brown.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack. Serve within 8 hours for best texture, and wrap the remainder in plastic to keep fresh.
More Information
Equipment
1 standard muffin tin, lightly coated with cooking spray
stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer and large bowl)
large mixing bowl
1 standard muffin tin, lightly coated with cooking spray
stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer and large bowl)
large mixing bowl
More Tasty Treats with Bananas
johanna says
March 30, 2009 at 10:17 amthis comes in very handy – due to a mixup i got two organic fruit boxes this week, instead of one fruit, one veg… so i have a big banana surplus and we’re leaving on vacation on friday! now i can make some muffins, i bet they freeze well, too, and i’ll have something to ease the post-holidays blues!
Daniel says
March 30, 2009 at 12:02 pmCongrats on scoring such a great opportunity in the grocery store. Isn’t it amusing how for a mushy banana has almost no value to a store (so they’ll sell a huge bag of them for $1), but it still has value to somebody who wants to make banana muffins or banana bread and NEEDS their bananas mushy.
It’s just so obvious that cooking at home is so worth it with opportunities like this around.
Dan
Casual Kitchen
Joy the Baker says
March 30, 2009 at 11:41 pmI love the look of these muffins. So full of health! And the bananas must keep the little things deliciously moist. Yum!
maris says
March 31, 2009 at 1:04 amI think I’m one of the few people that actually really LIKES bran muffins. I can’t imagine a tastier way to eat one though, than with the addition of bananas and walnuts. They all sound like they’d work perfectly together.
A&N says
March 31, 2009 at 8:31 pmWow, they look so good! N loves anything to do with bananas. This is a must-do.