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Banana Walnut Muffins

March 2nd, 2006 Caroline

I know, I know, we all need another muffin recipe as much as we need another chocolate chip cookie recipe. Which is to say, a lot!

Saturday morning when Ben crawled into bed with me, he actually cuddled up very quietly for a while and I thought maybe we’d get to go back to sleep. But then he sat up and said “Let’s make muffins, Mama! No, let’s make cookies! No, let’s make muffins and cookies!” He was so delighted with his idea, he barely waited to see if I was following him out of bed. But even though it was 6:30 a.m., I was climbing out of bed and pulling on my robe. Because that voice clamoring for muffins and cookies? It’s in my head, too.

I knew we had some bananas going brown, so I headed into the kitchen thinking banana muffins, and went straight to the cookbook produced by Berkeley’s amazing Cheese Board bakery. We are lucky to live just blocks away from The Cheese Board’s little sister bakery, Arizmendi, so I don’t actually use the cookbook much; besides, I was initially so appalled by the quarts of buttermilk, the pounds of butter and gallons of sour cream in each recipe for scones or muffins, it almost spoiled the bakery for me. But I got over that. This recipe is particularly tasty — tangy and not too sweet–and you can make it with nonfat yogurt and lowfat buttermilk and pretend it’s good for you.
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 c yogurt or sour cream
1 c buttermilk (or 1 c regular milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 c coarsely chopped walnuts
sprinkles (optional, unless you are in preschool)

Preheat oven to 375. Generously butter or spray the top and cups of a 12-cup muffin pan (if you have another muffin pan or small loaf pan handy, get it out; I wound up with 12 big muffins and 8 mini-muffins)

If you are making your own buttermilk, combine the milk and lemon juice or vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes while you assemble the other ingrediants. You could also toast the walnuts in the oven while it preheats; not necessary, but a nice touch.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg, egg yolk, bananas, yogurt, buttermilk and vanilla. Whisk until blended.

Stir the flour, baking soda and baking powder together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the salt and sugars and mix with the paddle attachment until combined. Add the butter and cut in on low speed until it is the size of small peas, about 4 minutes (you can do this all by hand, of course, using a whisk and then a pastry cutter or a couple of knives). Mix in the walnuts. Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingrediants. Gently combine with just a couple rotations of the paddle, taking care not to overmix the batter.

Fill the prepared muffin tins and, if you are 4, sprinkle generously with multi-colored sprinkles. Bake 25-30 minutes, until the muffins are deep golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then unmold the muffins onto a wire rack to cool.

Entry Filed under: Recipes