Brown Butter Banana Muffins

For those of you who don't know, my Mom makes the most amazing chocolate chip cookies on the PLANET.  She is famous for them, as she should be.  I am actually making a batch tomorrow for Easter, so we'll see how that goes! (I will definitely have to ring her for the secret ingredients...)  Baking is her thing.  Cooking is her thing, too.  Wow, she just rocks in general!

I am not a very savvy baker.  With cooking, I can be a bit more frivolous and creatively careless.  With baking, you really do have to be more exact and linear, and I was never good at math or fractions.  Trust me, I have tried to "change things up" and get a little crazy while baking various goodies, and the end product is typically a flat, salty, messy, unappetizing disaster!  So, this morning, I am sharing a recipe that truly delights.  It is a recipe that I had to use my measuring cups for, and it turned out oh-so-mighty-fine.  I followed the rules, and it paid off.  Sometimes, rule following is just the way to go....(sometimes).

A few posts ago, egg muffins made us rise and shine.  Today, it's brown butter banana muffins.  And, even though they do involve exact measuring, as baking recipes usually do, they can be more of a blank canvas for the creative cook than other typical baking recipes.  You can leave them as they are, and they will boast a blue ribbon, for sure; or, you can add other flavors of your fancy, and they will shine just as brightly in a different way.  Over the holidays at home with my family, I whipped some up with dark chocolate and walnuts, for a different dessert type of kick, and they were insanely delish. 

Here is a photo of those.  I call them "Monkey Muffins" :-)

Recipe courtesy of Claire Robinson, 5 Ingredient Fix
www.foodnetwork.com/5fix

What You Need:

• 4 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup raw agave syrup or honey (I used Glacier County Honey)
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups self-rising flour

How You Get it Done:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Get your coffee brewing.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners, or you can spray a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray (this is what I did.)  In a mixing bowl, add peeled bananas and mash a little with a fork.  Add your agave or honey and mix the bananas together with the syrup or honey.  Keep it a little lumpy (don't overmash). 

Melt the stick of butter in a pan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally.  Watch your butter turn into a nutty golden brown color.  It's so cool to watch!!  You now have "brown butter", and it tastes amazing. 
(Brown butter sauce would also be fabulous over pasta with parmesan- another post!)
Turn your stovetop off, and allow the brown butter to cool a bit (1-2 minutes or so).  In your original mixing bowl that is housing the banana mixture, add the semi-cooled brown butter.  Whisk to combine.  Whisk in the egg.  Fold in the flour, 1/2 of the flour at a time (2 rounds) until just combined (don't overmix). 
Now, with an ice cream scoop or a spoon, add equal amounts of the mixture to each muffin cup. 

Bake in the center of the oven for about 22-25 minutes until tops are golden brown and spring back when pressed.  Let cool for about 5 minutes while you get your coffee cups filled and ready to be paired with 2 muffins for a delightful breakfast. 

Pure... Wholesome... Packed with Banana Goodness. 

It will be a morning to remember when you rise and shine for these little muffins.  Just look at those rays of sunshine glimmering on top! It's a go-to recipe, for sure. 

Enjoy, time and time again.