Peanut-Butter Banana Nut Muffins

Peanut-Butter Banana Nut Muffins

 

The following recipe will roughly yield 12-16 regular sized muffins, 6-8 jumbo muffins, or around 48 mini muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 4 large bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional - I used walnuts because it's what I had available in my cupboard!)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter chips (optional)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips - milk, dark, or semi-sweet (optional - I used milk chocolate...first bag I came to when rounding up my ingredients!)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F and coat muffin pans with cooking spray (ie. Pam or the like) or use paper liners.  Note:  You may need to adjust for dark/non-stick pans - check your pan's instructions or reduce baking temp to 325° F if using one of these types pans to be on the safe side! 
2. In a medium bowl, sift together your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and set aside.
3. Combine sugar, peanut butter, bananas, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
4. Fold in the flour mixture and add in any extras you may want (nuts, chocolate chips, etc.).  Note:  It's best to do this part by hand instead of using a stand or electric mixer!  Over-mixing your batter can result in a dense, deflated looking muffin!  I typically opt for a good sturdy rubber spatula for gently folding the dry ingredients into the wet ones. 
5. Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared muffin tins and bake as follows.  Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  They will also spring back when lightly tapped.  Note:  Oven baking times will vary just as oven temperatures vary!  It's best to set your timer on the low side and put them back in to finish cooking so you don't end up with little muffin-shaped rocks!
• 10-15 minutes for mini muffins
• 25-30 minutes for regular muffins
• 30-32 minutes for jumbo muffins
6. Let muffins cool in the tins for 2-5 minutes and then move them to a rack to finish cooling the rest of the way.
7. Enjoy!

I made the jumbo version of these after a co-worker gifted me her almost unusable bananas!  They turned out great - wonderfully moist and really seemed to be crowd-pleasers!  I hope you and your loved ones will also enjoy these!  Let me know if you make them what you thought and what if any fun extras you tried adding!!