When I first made banana bread a few years back, I used nice, blemish-free bananas. They were green when I bought them and I waited until they turned a perfect deep yellow color. They were beautiful bananas but they didn’t infuse a lot of banana flavor in my banana bread! Then I learned that the perfect banana bread is made with very ripe bananas that have lots of brown spots and look rather rotten.
As bananas age, they become sweeter and develop a much stronger banana flavor, which makes the best banana bread.
This particular recipe has brown sugar which tastes delicious with banana. It also has chocolate chips and toasted pecans โ which are optional for those with allergies or an aversion to nuts. Sometimes I mix up the batter and divide it in half. To one batter I add chocolate chips and to the other, I add pecans. Other times, I might leave out both the chocolate and nuts because this recipe is also delicious without them! The coarse sugar on top is also optional, but I think you will love the crunch it adds to these muffins.
Although these muffins can be reheated for a few seconds in a microwave, I think they are best the first day I bake them. However, if you have leftovers, I recommend keeping them in the refrigerator because very ripe bananas baked into bread will start to ferment in a closed container.
I hope you enjoy these banana muffins!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 18-20 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups ripe banana, mashed and packed
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional)
- 2-3 tablespoons coarse sugar (optional)
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin tins or use paper liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and then set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Then beat in the eggs.
- Add the banana and beat until combined.
- Stir in the sour cream until mixed.
- Add the flour mixture and stir by hand or at the lowest mixer speed until mixed, taking care not to overmix.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts. Divide the mixture between the muffin tins. The tins will be full. Sprinkle the coarse sugar on top of the muffins.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown or an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Toast pecans by placing them in a skillet and heating them on medium-low heat.ย Stir them until they are fragrant and starting to brown, three or four minutes.ย Remove them from the pan to cool so they will stop cooking. They will burn easily so remove them from the heat before they get too brown.
This recipe was adapted from Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook.