Banana Choc Walnut Crumble Muffins

I’ve been having the most terrible trouble with bananas lately (talk about a first world problem). I almost always buy them quite green, mainly to give them the longest life possible sitting in the fruit bowl on my kitchen bench and also because I don’t fancy ripe bananas at all – greener the better for me. Last week I bought my usual green bunch of bananas on Tuesday…and then, I kid you not, by Thursday, my beautiful seemingly healthy bananas were splitting open, black and looked about two weeks riper than anticipated! And we all know there’s only one thing for overly ripe bananas, well two actually: either pop them in the freezer for smoothie making and baking at a later date, or whip up some banana bread toot-suite. Usually, I do the latter (using Beth’s recipe most likely), but on the weekend I wanted to make something different, but didn’t have the inclination nor brain capacity for anything overly exciting. I didn’t have butter out of the fridge softening like usual, and I didn’t even want to get out my beaters, such was the laziness. So, I whacked what I thought sounded like reasonable ingredients together, threw them in the oven and was pleasantly surprised! Thought it’d be rude not to share…

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Banana Choc Walnut Crumble Muffins

Muffin Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup choc chips
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut sugar (or caster sugar, I was trying to be all hipster healthy pfffft)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled

For the crumble topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon plain flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon chilled butter, chopped
Handful of chopped walnuts

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius and line a muffin tin or grease cups. Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl mash up your bananas, add in the sugar, the egg and the melted butter (make sure it’s cooled or you will cook your egg). Fold the banana/sugar/egg/butter mixture into the dry ingredients, toss in your walnuts and choc chips too. Put two tablespoons of the mixture into each of your muffin tin or cups.

For the crumble topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Rub the butter through the dry ingredients with your fingers, it doesn’t have to be perfectly combined, just to make a rough and ready crumble texture, big bits and little bits of butter are fine. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of your muffins, topping with the extra walnuts. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

As my husband dearest says, in almost every instance, a crumble topping on one of my muffin creations ‘takes it to the next level’. I would have to agree with him. As always with a thrown-together-made-up creation I wasn’t sure if I’d get the ratio of wet to dry ingredients right to create the right texture, but seems to have worked a treat! I’m still not sure about the whole banana/choc/walnut flavour combination, could be better sans chocolate…or walnuts…or using grated apple instead of banana with the walnuts (no chocolate). Have a play!