Roasted Banana Muffins

January 3, 2012

How do you feel about bananas?  I am ambivalent about them.  They are neither my favorite fruit (nectarines) nor my least favorite (papayas).  They fall somewhere toward the bottom third of my fruit list.  I don’t hate them but I don’t seek them out either.  My children, on the other hand, love bananas.  Spencer especially.  And so I buy a lot of bananas and always think to myself that I can bake banana bread if they start to go bad.  But then, no matter how many I buy, my guys eat them and so no banana bread is made.  And then I realize that all is well in the banana world because I don’t really like banana bread anyway.  Now really, was that the most fascinating paragraph you have ever read?

Recently I found myself with a few bananas and a recipe that sounded surprisingly interesting to me.  Roasted Banana Muffins.  You take 2 bananas, drizzle them with brown sugar, vanilla, and rum, wrap them up in foil, and roast them for about 20 minutes.  What you get is soft bananas swimming in an incredibly fragrant bath and you know just by smelling them that these muffins won’t taste like that old tired banana bread you make to use up old bananas.  (For the record, “banana” is a really fun word to type.)

This recipe comes from a cookbook with the unfortunate name of Cake Boy.  It is a book that I would have undoubtedly passed by if the charming French author hadn’t made a stop at Book Larder.  I didn’t get to meet him, although I hear he smelled like expensive cologne and was extremely handsome, and those facts made me take a second look at his book.  An extremely decadent cream cheese brownie and a blueberry muffin that you fill and top with a blueberry compote were enough to make me buy it.  (Note: I can’t wait for blueberry season.)  Cake Boy lived up to his promise for big flavor with these muffins – my family inhaled them.

And how about those plates!  I don’t have any sisters, but I am fortunate enough to have three wonderful sisters-in-law.  Two of them, Randy’s sisters (hi Susie!  hi Lois!), conspired to send me these beautiful plates from Cat’s Paw Pottery as a holiday gift.  Don’t you love them?  I hope so because you will be seeing a lot of them…

One Year Ago:  Linzer Tart
Two Years Ago:  Orecchiette with Fennel, Beets, and Toasted Almonds

Roasted Banana Muffins
Adapted from Cake Boy
Makes 12 muffins

This recipe calls for self-rising flour – an ingredient used frequently in Europe but not as much in the States.  You can easily make your own by adding ½ tsp. of salt and 1½ tsp. of baking powder to each cup of flour.  Because this recipe calls for 2¼ cups self-rising flour, I just made 2 cups of the self-rising flour and then added another ¼ cup of all-purpose flour.  I thought with the additional baking powder already in the recipe that these muffins might balloon out of control but they did not.

I always buy superfine sugar (C&H makes it and you can find it on the baking aisle) but if you only have regular, you can grind it in a food processor.  Or, I imagine, you can just use it as is.  Report back if you do.

2 large ripe bananas
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. dark rum
6 tbsp. (¾ of a stick) unsalted butter
½ cup milk (I used 2%)
2¼ cups self-rising flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ cup superfine sugar
2 eggs
Dried banana chips (for topping)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

First, roast the bananas.  Peel them, then place them on a large sheet of foil on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle them with the dark sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and rum.  Wrap in a loose but secure package and cook in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Melt the butter and allow to cool.  In a bowl, mash the roasted bananas well.  With a fork, beat the eggs, melted butter, and milk in a second bowl.  Add the mashed bananas and stir through.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and superfine sugar into a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and add the egg and banana mixture, stirring roughly with a fork (don’t overmix) until it is a lumpy paste.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cups to the rims (I use a large ice cream scoop for this).  Top each one with some banana chips.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.  Rest the muffins on a wire rack too cool down.

 



26 Comments »

  1. i make banana bread pretty often for hugh as he is a “morning pastry” guy and I find mushed bananas can keep things moist without needing a ton of fat. It crossed my mind a few nights ago that I knew I’d seen a muffin like this one somewhere but couldn’t remember where and lo and behold, you deliver! ps. love love the new dishes, great gift.

    Comment by sara — January 3, 2012 @ 11:43 pm

  2. 1st I DO love love love your plates..your SIL’s have great taste! And the muffins sound amazing!

    Comment by leslie — January 4, 2012 @ 12:40 am

  3. I just had a slice of banana bread last night. Someone brought it to our weekly potluck dinner and I realized it had been so long since I’d had any! I love the idea of roasting them first with brown sugar and rum, like an adult take on a familiar favorite!

    And those plates are beautiful! You have yourself some very nice sister-in-laws : )

    Comment by Jacqui — January 4, 2012 @ 1:35 am

  4. I’m SO not a banana person either. I basically only like them when they’re ALMOST not green. As soon as they’re all yellow, I want nothing to do with them. I do, however, like banana bread. And I’m pretty sure I’d LOVE these muffins. I hear roasted bananas are truly the way to go in such situations.

    Comment by Joanne — January 4, 2012 @ 2:21 am

  5. I have a pretty good banana muffin recipe but think I will try these to check. Normally my husband eats all our bananas but lately he’s missed a few so I have 2 in my freezer now waiting for a turn in the oven with some rum…mmmmm.

    Comment by Charlotte — January 4, 2012 @ 5:35 am

  6. Absolutely love the plates – especially the blue one!

    Comment by Lynn — January 4, 2012 @ 5:54 am

  7. I hate bananas but I do like banana bread. Those dried bananas scare me a bit, but I’m willing to give this a try. Especially since I just cleaned out our freezer tonight and found 4 huge and black bananas hiding inside. Time for banana muffins I think :) Happy new year, Dana!

    Comment by kickpleat — January 4, 2012 @ 6:49 am

  8. I’d be tempted to slice the bananas, roast them, and then pour them and their sauce over vanilla ice cream. The Six-Minute Souffle has a vaguely similar treatment for pears. (Poires en chemise except that I’m probably remembering that wrong since I have NO French at all.)

    Comment by Cindy — January 4, 2012 @ 12:10 pm

  9. I love those plates! What an amazing gift.

    Comment by Clara — January 4, 2012 @ 2:16 pm

  10. i love banana’s. I dont have rum, what else would you suggest i use(vanilla?)

    Comment by angela — January 4, 2012 @ 3:35 pm

  11. These look amazing. And I love the plates!

    Comment by Cathy — January 4, 2012 @ 4:22 pm

  12. You can just leave out the rum for sure. It’s actually optional but I included it in the recipe on my site because I loved it in there. I imagine brandy would be a good substitute if you want a little boozy kick.

    Comment by dana — January 4, 2012 @ 4:25 pm

  13. Dana – these muffins are beautiful! My husband doesn’t like baked goods that come without frosting, icing, or some extra sugar somewhere. I think he might go for these, though. Is there a hint of Bananas Foster in the flavor? Thanks for the self rising flour advice as well.

    Comment by Mary Miller / A Passionate Plate — January 4, 2012 @ 6:11 pm

  14. I’m dying to make these (I just roasted the bananas, yum!), but I don’t see how many eggs it takes? I’m guessing it needs one or two. I also have your red lentil dahl on the stovetop, boy does my kitchen smell good on this dreary rainy day! Thanks!

    Comment by Corey — January 4, 2012 @ 9:05 pm

  15. I LOVE bananas – but of course, growing up in Brazil, I am definitely spoiled. Ours (all modesty aside) are THE best in the world. Period.

    plus, there are so many kinds over there, I definitely miss the variety.

    Your muffins look absolutely delicious!

    Comment by SallyBR — January 4, 2012 @ 9:58 pm

  16. It’s two eggs, sorry about that. Fixed in the post!

    Comment by dana — January 4, 2012 @ 11:46 pm

  17. Well I made them with 2 eggs after guessing, but they turned out so bitter! I was beyond bummed. I’m guessing it was because of the baking powder, but I’m not sure why since I followed your recipe. Any thoughts?

    Comment by Corey — January 5, 2012 @ 12:48 am

  18. Well, I just made a banana bread yesterday (I add chocolate chips to perk it up), but I wish I had seen this post first as these look delicious. Love your new plates and I will definitely have to check out Cake Boy!

    Comment by Deb — January 5, 2012 @ 1:29 am

  19. Bannans are HEALTHIER for U than apples. Ask a doctor.

    Comment by sILVER bELLE — January 5, 2012 @ 1:50 am

  20. Oh wow, I know I must make these next! Dave LOVES anything banana, and the addition of rum sold me ;) I also adore the plates! I noticed them right away. You sibs-in-law have great taste ;)

    Comment by brooke — January 5, 2012 @ 7:52 pm

  21. […] SWEET 1. Fruit has fruit sugar in it, which means that roasting will lead to caramelization, i.e. goodness: Roasted Banana Muffins […]

    Pingback by Things to Try Thursday, 5th of January 2012 « Kirschplunder's Blog — January 6, 2012 @ 12:26 am

  22. Had to laugh when I read about your feelings about bananas. I feel the exact same way. What I consider “a lesser fruit.”

    Comment by karen — January 6, 2012 @ 3:38 am

  23. The plates are gorgeous. Talk about a perfect gift!

    I made these today and they were delicious- lightly sweet, moist, fluffy. The three non-banana eaters in the family ate them, while the major banana eater and only reason we have them in house (age 21-mo) threw his all over the floor. 75% success- yay!

    The only changes I made were omitting the banana chips because I have a major aversion to those and using (common) sugar that I didn’t process smaller. Very much enjoyed!

    Comment by Kathleen — January 7, 2012 @ 2:43 am

  24. Roasted bananas sound delicious. I don’t think the book title would have drawn me in either, but after seeing these muffins, I’ll have to have a look at it!

    Comment by lisaiscooking — January 9, 2012 @ 10:21 pm

  25. I made this and played with the recipe since that looked like massive amount of leavening to me.

    I went with regular flour, 1 T. of baking powder, 1/2 t. baking soda, 1/2 t. salt. I reduced the sugar (I used raw organic sugar, not superfine) by 4 T. and used a sugar/molasses combo for roasting the bananas with since I am out of brown sugar. And because I had extra bananas I roasted an extra one and subbed it for half of the butter.

    The muffins are good. Making them again, I stick with the changes but bump up the butter content and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar- especially since I cut down on the amount in the batter.

    Thanks.

    Comment by Sandra — January 11, 2012 @ 6:07 pm

  26. […] first tasted liquor in banana bread a few years ago. The recipe called for roasting the bananas in rum and sugar before mixing them into the batter. Charlie loved […]

    Pingback by Banana Coconut Cocoa Nib Bread | Kathleen Bean — February 18, 2014 @ 5:58 pm



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