Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread Muffins
We have this banana problem in our house. If I buy 2 bunches, they’re gone in 2 days and everyone is sad. If I buy 3 bunches, 6-7 of them go bad. I don’t know why this happens, but it drives me crazy! Fortunately bananas are cheap (thank you Costco)! Every time they start to turn brown I think to myself, this would be a good time to make some banana bread muffins. Then I forget and they’re super gross by the time I think of it again.
The other day I had this inkling again, spurned on by a massive sugar craving and nothing in the house to soothe it. I also had a friend coming over, and there’s nothing better than a fresh palate to test a recipe. I was also running low on some ingredients so this was definitely an experiment in baking science. It turned out amazing though, even my husband, who hates gluten free baked goods, declared them to be “awesome.” And banana bread is one of his favorite things so I’m pretty ecstatic.
A little chat about gluten free flour substitutes. I use the cup for cup varieties. I have previously tried the Pillsbury and Bob’s Red Mill versions, and of the two I prefer Pillsbury. I have the King Arthur stocked up to try next. There probably isn’t a better option, just be sure to choose a gluten free baking blend that promotes cup for cup substitution, or I can’t guarantee the results!
Often if you convert a regular recipe using gluten free flour you’ll find the finished product to be somewhat dry. Fortunately I’ve discovered some tricks to create moisture, and you get lots of bang in this recipe. I was sad this gave me 12 muffins only! Next time I’ll double it because they were gone by the end of the day.
Alright, enough gushing. Let’s get baking. Mix up your dry ingredients and set aside. In another bowl, mash bananas, and add vanilla. Cream together softened butter and sugar. Add eggs. Slowly add dry ingredients, about one fourth at a time. Finally we add the banana mixture. Mix until just blended, careful not to over do it!
In small bowl mix sugar and cinnamon for the swirl. Prepare your muffin tin with either paper cups or these nifty silicone ones. Aren’t they pretty???
Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each cup. Gently tap muffin tin on counter until batter is flattened in tins. Sprinkle fine layer of cinnamon/sugar mixture into each cup. Repeat process once with layer of batter and cinnamon/sugar. Using a toothpick, swirl a few times through each muffin tin to mix layers.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean. Gah these are good! Like fall apart full of brown sugary goodness delicious! I just wish they lasted longer!
How about you? Did you give this one a try? Add it to your to do list? Please let me know what you think!
