King Arthur Flour's Banana Crumb Muffins

Recipe from the 1997 State Baking Contests

Adapted by The New York Times

King Arthur Flour's Banana Crumb Muffins
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
5(4,435)
Comments
Read comments

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

Featured in: Heating Up the Ovens for the Country Fair

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Ingredients

Yield:12 muffins

    Topping

    • ½cup King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
    • ¼cup sugar
    • 1teaspoon cinnamon
    • 4tablespoons (½ stick) butter or margarine, room temperature

    Muffins

    • 1½cups King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
    • 1teaspoon baking soda
    • 1teaspoon baking powder
    • ½teaspoon salt
    • 3large, ripe bananas, mashed
    • ¾cup sugar
    • 1egg, slightly beaten
    • ⅓cup butter or margarine, melted
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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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.

Ratings

5 out of 5
4,435 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)

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!

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.

Natalie

These were excellent! I used the metric conversions posted by E and added oats to the crumb. Could definitely cut back the sugar - quite sweet. Will definitely be making these again!

Emma

Any advice on how to get the topping to cover the whole muffin? I cover the whole muffin but once it puffs up in the oven the crumb top gets all spread out. What am I doing wrong?

CB

Used metric measurements. Substituted brown sugar in the topping. Made these in tulip parchment liners and filled them (7 muffins total). Let batter rest for 15 minutes. Baked at 425 for 7 minutes and 350 for 18 minutes. Light, fluffy, and BEST BANANA CRUMB MUFFIN ever!!!

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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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