Caramel Banana Walnut Muffins
For when you want to go a little extra with your morning muffin but have just rolled out of bed…
Some muffin recipes call for cake-making techniques, alternating between wet and dry ingredients, etc. which do lead to delicious muffins but I’d rather save that effort for a proper cake. When I’m making a treat for breakfast while still convincing my eyes to stay open I want the process to be pretty basic. Enter this super simple recipe from King Arthur Baking. Just beat together the wet ingredients, stir in the dry, scoop into the pan and bake. Even the caramel comes from stirring in caramel chips. Not too sweet and absolutely delicious. My husband has been rapidly working his way through them.
Photos by Daniel Marks
How I Made Them
Well, like I said above, the bake is pretty straightforward, but I will add that I used salted caramel chips which I think helped cut down on potential sweetness. Also, be sure to toast the walnuts, it really makes all the difference. Spread them in a single layer on a pan and bake at 350° F for 6-8 minutes. You’ll know they’re ready when you can smell their nutty aroma and they release some oils.
Something I wish I’d done is to save some of the caramel chips and walnuts to sprinkle on the top. I think the tops would have looked more tempting. Obviously this doesn’t affect the taste, just the presentation.
One last note, the recipe doesn’t specifically say to use very ripe bananas, but you’ll get more banana flavor if you wait for them to get very ripe. I noticed a reviewer said that the banana flavor didn’t come through. I would suspect that not using ripe bananas is the reason.
Enjoy!
Photos by Daniel Marks
