Berry Crumble Muffins

In honor of the fourth, and summer in general, I made blueberry and strawberry crumble muffins!  I had to substitute skim milk with lemon for the buttermilk in the original recipe, but the end result was still great.  I think the key element is the lemon juice and lemon zest because it enhances the berries’ flavor and freshness.

Berry Crumble Muffins (makes 12)

Crumble:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon / pinch of salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons salted melted butter

Combine all the ingredients together in a small bowl with a fork until a crumb forms.

Muffins:

2 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon/ pinch of salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 cup skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 cup salted melted butter

1- 1 1/4 cup strawberries and blueberries (the strawberries should be hulled and quartered)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a muffin tin.

Combine milk and lemon juice, let stand for at least 5 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium sized bowl.

Beat eggs in a large bowl.  Add the milk and lemon mixture.  Add in the sugars and mix until combined.  Add vanilla and lemon zest.  Mix in the butter.

Slowly add the dry ingredients.  Stir in the berries.

Scoop batter into muffin tin.  Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

 

Chocolate Banana Bread Muffins

This is by far the best recipe for banana bread muffins I have ever made!!!!  Usually banana based goods can get really dense and compact, but these maintain a light and fluffy texture.  Chocolate chips make this breakfast all the more decadent 🙂  I used a recipe from The Nibble.  Supposedly, Pichet Ong, a famous pastry chef, calls this “The Best Banana Bread” and I agree 100%.

Now, since I do not have a loaf pan (I know I need to buy one) I made muffins instead!  This recipe makes one loaf of banana bread or 12 muffins.  If you decide to make the loaf click the link above for different baking instructions.

Chocolate Banana Bread Muffins

1/3 cup salted butter at room temperature

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup roughly mashed bananas (I used two large ones)

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 large egg

1/2 cup Greek plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Coarse sugar for sprinkling on top ( I used turbinado raw cane sugar)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line your muffin tin with liners.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium size bowl.

Cream the butter, honey, sugar, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.  I used an electric hand held mixer.

Add the bananas and vanilla at medium speed and mix until it looks broken.  See picture below.

Add the egg, medium/ low speed, and mix until just incorporated.  Turn the speed to the lowest setting and slowly add the sifted dry ingredients.  Add the yogurt and mix for only ~5 seconds.  Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate chips gently.  It is VERY important to not over-mix in these last couple of steps.  You want to keep the mixture as light as possible!

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and sprinkle on the coarse sugar.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.  It took me ~32 minutes.   Cool the muffins for 10 minutes before you take them out of the tray.  Then savor every bite of the scrumptiousness!