We had instant summer here in Wisconsin this week, and that meant I bought the bananas too ripe to last. We really only had one day when it got up close to 80° and today it’s chilly and rainy, but still, on Thursday morning there were 7 getting-almost-too-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, so I made these muffins.
For the streusel:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter (half a stick)
For the muffins:
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 small)
- grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached white but some whole wheat would probably be good)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt, or a nice pinch of kosher salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
To make the streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Slice in the butter and use a pastry blender or your fingers to cut in the butter until you have large crumbs.
Heat the oven to 375° and grease or line a 12-well muffin tin with papers.
Mash the bananas, and transfer them to a 2-cup spouted measuring cup. Add the lemon zest, and the sour cream, egg, and melted butter, and mix.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the center, and add the banana, sour cream, butter mixture. Mix just until all the flour is moistened – a few lumps are OK.
Divide the batter into the muffin tin (I got 9 large muffins, but YMMV), and top each muffin with about 2 tablespoons of the streusel.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes until firm and brown.
Based on a 1997 State Fair Baking Contest recipe in the NYT; Originally posted April 2021