King Arthur Flour's Banana Crumb Muffins

Recipe from the 1997 State Baking Contests

Adapted by The New York Times

Updated December 7, 2015

  • Craig Lee for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
5(5,376)
Comments
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A hearty loaf of banana bread is an excellent way to use up a pile of leftover bananas, but sometimes you want a lighter option. These tender banana muffins are crowned with a delightfully crunchy cinnamon crumb topping that lends to their addictive nature. The easy recipe, which doesn't require any special equipment – just a couple of bowls – was adapted from one originally developed by a 9-year old named Meghan Cwikla. With it, she won the junior division at the 1997 State Baking Contest at the Connecticut State Fair. —The New York Times

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Ingredients

Yield:12 muffins

TOPPING

  • ½ cup King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour

  • ¼ cup sugar

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter or margarine, room temperature

MUFFINS

  • 1 ½ cups King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 3 large, ripe bananas, mashed

  • ¾ cup sugar

  • 1 egg, slightly beaten

  • ⅓ cup butter or margarine, melted

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

41 grams carbs; 37 milligrams cholesterol; 256 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 10 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 203 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 21 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    For the topping, in a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add butter or margarine and mix with a fork or pastry cutter until crumbly. Put aside while preparing muffin batter.

  2. Step 2

    For the muffins, in large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside.

  3. Step 3

    In another bowl, combine mashed bananas, sugar, slightly beaten egg and melted butter or margarine. Mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

  4. Step 4

    Fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full. (Do not use paper muffin cups!) Using hands, arrange coarse, pea-sized crumbs over muffin batter.

  5. Step 5

    Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until muffins test done with a cake tester. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
5,376 user ratings
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Comments

E

metric! topping: • 60 g AP flour • 53 g brown sugar (50 g if using white sugar as written) • 1 tsp cinnamon • 57 g butter muffins: • 180 g AP flour • 6g baking soda • 4g baking powder • 1/2 tsp salt [varies] • 3 bananas • 149 g sugar • 1 egg • 75g butter ingredient weights c/o King Arthur's website (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart)

Elizabeth Z

This recipe was soooo good!

Recommend brown sugar in the crumble instead of white, and maybe chopped pecans or walnuts in the crumble as well. Less flour in the crumble.

Sarah

I've made these 3 times in the past few months.

The lightest, airiest muffins I've ever made myself, by a mile.

My family loves the crumb topping, so I now double that part of the recipe.

And I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 and they're still very sweet (I think I could cut further).

Great recipe!

Kellie

For the topping, I used dukkah with a small amount of sugar. Loved it!

Kat

Absolutely delicious, per other comments used brown sugar instead of granulated for the topping and added an extra tablespoon of melted butter to absorb some of the extra flour. Could have probably reduced the sugar in the batter by a 1/4c. Also added 3/4c of chocolate chunks to the batter and baked in paper muffin liners. Not sure why they advise against using liners! Had no sticking issues, easier cleanup, and muffin liners helped catch some of the extra crumb topping.

Cayce

If I made these again, I would cut the topping recipe in half, it makes a lot. I added walnuts and they were delicious.

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Credits

From the 1997 State Baking Contests, sponsored by the Association of Connecticut Fairs Inc. and King Arthur Flour

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