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One of my best friends' birthday was coming up, so I texted her asking what her top three favorite desserts were. She replied with anything banana (which I said in the Despicable Me voice, ha), tiramisu, and lava cake. We were going on a hike for her birthday and then to a brewery, so I didn't feel as though tiramisu or a lava cake really made sense for that. That left me with having to get creative with banana recipes!
After finding a few recipes for banana bread and banana cake, I sort of combined a few different recipes to create these amazing muffins to my liking. I LOVE a good coffee cake and even more so a good crumble, and I decided to incorporate those into a soft, moist, banana cake. Alas, these amazing Banana Coffee Cake Muffins were born, and let me tell you, our friends were fighting over the last one. Success.
This recipe has a few different components, but it is pretty easy and quick overall. These are also super easy to make into Gluten Free Muffins by simply substituting the all-purpose flour with 1 to 1 Gluten Free flour (Target has some, or there's the Bob's Red Mill Brand too).
The cake is luscious and loaded with banana and cinnamon flavor, as well as a cinnamon and sugar swirl center, while the crumble on top adds a wonderful texture and slight crunch. The yummy icing on top should be slightly thick but not runny, so don't be afraid to add more powered sugar to thicken, or more milk to thin it out. These muffins are great for breakfast, dessert, or any time in between!
Here's What You Need:
FOR THE BANANA CAKE:
1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. mashed ripe bananas (or about 3 large bananas)
1/3 C. granulated sugar
1/4 C. brown sugar, packed
1/2 C. sour cream
1/4 C. canola (or vegetable) oil
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:
3/4 C. flour
1/2 C. cold butter, cubed
1/3 C. brown sugar
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch salt
FOR THE CINNAMON SUGAR FILLING:
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tsp. granulated sugar
FOR THE ICING:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. milk
TOOLS:
Standard Muffin Pan
Muffin Liners (or nonstick cooking spray)
Parchment Paper
Here's What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a standard muffin pan with muffin liners (or grease thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray if you don't want to use liners).
Make your crumble topping: Combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Then add your cubed butter, and either using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands (that's the best in my opinion), mix all ingredients together allowing everything to stick to the butter until crumbles form. Lay the crumbles out on a sheet of parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl begin to make the banana cake: combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, mash bananas. Then add sugar, brown sugar, sour cream, oil, egg and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
Pour the dry ingredients into wet and gently fold until combined, be careful not to over mix. Set aside.
In a small bowl, make the cinnamon sugar filling: combine cinnamon, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Set aside.
Pour the batter into the each muffin cup enough to cover the bottom but filling it less than halfway. Then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar filling evenly into each cup. Then cover each cup with the rest of your batter, filling the cups no more than 3/4 full.
Top each muffin cup with crumble topping by gently dropping pieces onto the batter and gently pressing some into the batter.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for at least 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan.
While the muffins cool, make the icing: whisk powdered sugar with milk, if you want a thinner icing, add more milk, if you want it thicker, add more powered sugar!
Remove muffins from the pan and drizzle the icing over cooled muffins (either in a piping bag, or a baggie with the tip cut off, or spread on with a butter knife). Enjoy!
