The Kitchen Door

This morning I woke up at 4:30 in the morning.  Crazy.  It’s especially crazy if you are me.  I am convinced that I am allergic to mornings.  I always wake up in a fog and with all the grace of a zombie I shuffle and snort my way to the bathroom where I spend the next 5 minutes sneezing and trying to remember my name.  Early morning cooking in my kitchen is a rare occasion.  I am a weekend breakfast cooker but on weekdays it’s toaster this or box of that.  This morning I knew I had to bake because it was freezing cold here and I needed an excuse to turn on the oven and heat up the kitchen.

With the bananas getting blacker by the moment in my fruit bowl I knew whatever I made would have to have bananas in it.

These muffins were delicious!  The smell of banana muffins baking snapped me out of my morning zombie trance and filled my little kitchen with morning happiness.

What makes these particular muffins so special is that they are topped with a full and nutty streusel and then a warm butter rum sauce is spooned over the hot muffins.  They are big and impressive looking… just like something you might expect to find tempting you from inside a bakery case.

Recipe adapted from: Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

The butter rum glaze seeps down into the muffin and makes them all warm and yummy .

Bananas Foster Muffins

Makes 12 big muffins

The Ingredients

For the Streusel Topping:

1. 1/3 cup  flour
2. ¼ cup dark brown sugar
3. ½ tsp ground cinnamon
4. 4 TBS butter
5. 1½ cups chopped pecans

  For the Muffin:

1. 2 cups flour
2. 1 tsp baking soda
3. 1/2 tsp baking powder
4. 1/2 tsp salt
5. 1 cup granulated sugar
6. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
7. 2 eggs
8. 3 medium bananas, mashed
9. 1 tsp vanilla extract
10. 3 TBS buttermilk

  For the Rum Glaze:

1. 4 TBS butter
2. 2 TBS water
3. ¼ cup light brown sugar
4. ¼ cup rum  (I used the only rum I had on hand which is coconut rum... YUM)

The Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. For the topping: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and mix in pecans; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and baking powder and salt; set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and vegetable oil on medium speed to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each until combined. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract; beat to combine. Alternatively add the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour and finish mixing with a spatula.
5. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the muffins. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 22 to 24 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time.
6. While the muffins are baking, make the rum glaze. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat bring the butter, water, and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
7. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes. Then, using a toothpick poke holes all over the top of the muffins. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the rum glaze over each muffin. Let the muffins sit for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Spoon the remaining glaze over each muffin, about 1 teaspoon for each muffin.

By: The Kitchen Door

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