Muffins must be the most comforting of comfort foods in the universe! They are easy to make, hard to mess up and the combinations are endless. My all time favorite is blueberry muffins but these Banana Nut Streusel muffins are a close second!

Muffin baking is as basic as it gets. You blend all your dry ingredients together in one bowl and your wet ingredients in another. Mix the wet into the dry and stir just until blended. Fill your muffin tins and bake. Can’t get much easier than that!

Whenever we have house guests, I like to get up early while everyone’s still sleeping and slip a pan of homemade muffins or popovers into a hot oven. Then I’ll get started on a big pot of French Press coffee-my absolute favorite way to drink coffee! Freshly ground beans, a dash of cinnamon and a little unsweetened cocoa-add some heavy cream and mornings just got a whole lot brighter!

The sweet muffin-y fragrance of cinnamon wafts through the whole house waking up sleepy heads and beckoning them to the table to share warm muffins with butter and hot coffee. Oh heavenly mornings!

I love banana nut muffins but some recipes can be a little dry. I think I’ve solved the problem by adding moist and thick sour cream. It adds the slightest tang but makes these muffins super moist and with the nuts and streusel topping, you get moist and smooth along with the crunchy sweetness. It’s a fabulous combo taking these muffins from ordinary to sublime!

These work great with the gluten free mix I created for my Apple and Pumpkin Gluten Free Muffins.

I’ve learned a few tips about muffin making I’d like to share, especially if you like a nice, fat dome on your muffin. If you prefer flat muffins, just ignore this advice. Me? I like ’em tall!

See how they puff up nice and high? Ta-da!

• Fill your muffin cups almost to the top with batter. Most recipes will tell you to fill 2/3 full but I ignore that and fill them full.
• If your batter is too thick to pour then it’s just right. You should need to spoon it into the cups.
• Use cupcake liners to make cleanup easier. I use Beyond Gourmet 2-1/2-Inch Unbleached Baking Cups because they don’t have any nasty chlorine.
• To make a nice, high topped muffin, start with a hot oven, 425 degrees. Every recipe will tell you to set your oven to 350 but starting with a hot oven does an amazing thing: It causes the starches and proteins to set and create an eruption of steam, lifting the muffins and making them dome shaped! You will cook the muffins at the high temperature for about 7 minutes then turn the heat down to 350 for the remainder of the cooking time.
• An ice cream scoop will measure the perfect amount of batter. Scoop up a mound and fill your cups.

Ready to pop in the oven!

Banana Streusel Muffins with Sour Cream and Pecans

• 2 cups all purpose flour (I use Organic, Sprouted Spelt Flour for muffins)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil
• 3/4 cup Organic Coconut Sugar
  or organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas – about 4 good sized ones
• 1 cup organic sour cream
• 2 organic eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Prepare muffin tin by lining with unbleached baking cups or greasing well with butter.
3. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix well.
4. In a separate bowl combine mashed bananas, sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla and sour cream.
5. Stir the wet mixture into the dry until just moistened.
6. Scoop into muffin tins with an ice cream scoop, filling almost to the top.
7. Make the streusel topping by mixing the coconut sugar, flour and cinnamon. cut in the butter till the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the tops of the muffins.
8. Bake at 425 for about 7 minutes then turn the heat down to 350. Bake 18-20 minutes more, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool muffins 5 minutes on a rack then remove muffins from muffin pan and place on rack to cool.

Kate’s Tips

• Feel free to leave out the pecans and replace with mini chocolate chips.
• Or, instead of the streusel topping, chop the pecans small and sprinkle on top of the muffins.
• You can use either sour cream or whole milk plain yogurt.
• These work quite well as gluten free muffins.
• This recipe makes a lovely banana bread instead of muffins.

See how moist they are?

What’s your favorite breakfast to make for company?