We’re back!!! After what seemed like a never-ending journey home, we made it safely back to the US of A on Sunday night. The last two weeks have been incredible, I still am mourning over the end of our vacation, but I’m so thankful for the memories and amazing time we had together in South Africa. Our nine hour layover in Qatar was less than memorable, although it was a bearable sacrifice for an unforgettable trip. December was a double whammy for me in terms of overeating – holiday food while we were still here in NY followed by nonstop eating out and lack of exercise while on vacation. So, like the rest of the blogging world, today I have a slightly lighter recipe to share with you today. Yayyy for pretending to diet but still eating muffins with peanut butter and chocolate chips!
I actually made and photographed these muffins a LONG time ago. They’ve been hanging out in my photo archives for awhile now, kind of like the scrawny kid who gets picked last in gym class. I was just so excited to share with you my other gluttonously delicious and over-the-top desserts over the past few holiday-strewn months that these monochromatic muffins kept getting the shaft. But now that I’m forcing myself to be a little more healthful, I see these muffins again in a new light. They were SO yummy, and moist and flavorful with the most amazing peanut butter streusel that can’t be skipped. Okay, they might not be as exciting as a cookie dough dip covered in M&M’s, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored! It’s not always about the glitz and glamour of creative baking endeavors here on the blog – sometimes the best recipes to have on hand are like this one and don’t require a mixer or waiting for butter to come to room temperature. It’s just the beautiful marriage of some of my favorite flavors mixed together in a rustic and simple way.
I already have a chocolate peanut butter banana muffin recipe on the blog, but they’re chocolate based and therefore fall into a whole different category if you ask me. The chocolate flavor here is not overly pronounced, and you can even skip the chocolate chips if you’d like (especially if you’re trying to actually be healthy). The true stars of the show here are banana and peanut butter, and although peanut butter can sometimes dry out muffins, the mashed banana, oil, and Greek yogurt really help to keep things moist. And of course, my favorite part is the streusel. I’ve never made a peanut butter one before, but as you can imagine, it was wonderful. Definitely a little extra indulgence to add on top of these muffins, but if you’re not actually counting calories, it’s not to be missed!
Peanut Butter Banana Muffins with Peanut Butter Streusel
Recipe adapted from Craving Chronicles
Ingredients:
for the muffins:
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
2 tbsp milk
1 egg
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
for the peanut butter streusel:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed into small pieces
1/8 tsp salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 12 muffin tins with liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas together with the brown sugar until smooth, but still slightly lumpy. Add the yogurt, milk, egg, peanut butter, oil, and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add the flour and gently mix in with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and again mix gently until evenly distributed.
To make the peanut butter streusel, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and use two forks, a pastry cutters, or your fingers to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture becomes coarse crumbs. Store in the fridge until your muffin batter is complete.
Divide muffin batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling each one about 3/4 full. If you have extra batter, feel free to bake up a few mini muffins as well (or do all mini muffins if you want perfectly portioned snacks!). Sprinkle the streusel evenly on top of all of the muffin batter, gently using your fingers to press the streusel into the top of the batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to enjoy - I found they lasted well up to 4 days.
South Africa sounds amazing! And these muffins look amazing. Love that streusel!
So glad to hear you had an amazing time in South Africa, I’m jealous!
Banana and peanut butter anything is already the greatest…
but that STREUSEL tho……. I’m screaming!
How long would you bake the mini muffins?
Erica — January 6th, 2015 @ 1:55 pm
I think I started at 10 minutes, and then kept checking every minute or so until they were done. Enjoy!
What are your thoughts on substituting almond butter for the peanut butter? I know the flavor profile wont be quite the same, but we have a peanut allergy at home.
Erica — January 8th, 2015 @ 9:19 pm
I think that would totally work. As you said the flavor might be different, but I think they’d still be great. Enjoy!