Peanut Ripple Banana Muffins

Like last month's Banana muffins, these were also a special request.  Actually, they were requested at the same time, with one person requesting the Oreo muffins and the second person deciding they would love to try a peanut butter version.  Well, a full peanut butter banana muffin is really just a peanut butter muffin.  I decided to try for a coffee-cake style ripple instead to go for banana with peanut butter instead of peanut butter with a hint of banana.

These were raved over at the office where they had been requested.  (I was declared "evil" for bringing them in, LOL 😋, and the container was returned with nary a crumb left.)  Even hubby, who isn't big on peanut butter, said the texture of the banana muffin part was perfection.  And eldest gave big thumbs up and loved them. 

 

Now there was one week between baking the Oreo banana muffins and these ones, and I held the bananas in the fridge to slow down ripening. Chilling will darken the peel as well as slowing the ripening process, and I would say I was at the limit of the holding period, having put them in when pretty well speckled. The second batch, a week later, had significantly more browning. This was a tiny bit from the extra sugars having formed in the still ripening banana, and mostly from using buttermilk instead of sour cream + milk.  Really bumps up the Maillard browning reaction! For texture, the overwhelming winner was the buttermilk.  The acidity tenderizes, the lower fat give better browning and a more crisp crown.

Peanut Ripple Banana Muffins
makes 12 standard muffins

¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup avocado oil
½ cup buttermilk (or ¼ cup milk + ¼ cup sour cream - will brown a little less)
2 overripe bananas, mashed with 1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla 
2⁄3 cup sugar 
1 egg
1½ cups all purpose flour 
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt

Filling:
½ cup peanut flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
½ tbsp Skrewball peanut butter whiskey (optional)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 tsp Skrewball peanut butter whiskey, or vanilla
~1 tbsp milk, enough to achieve drizzle consistency 

½ cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Grease or line a muffin tin with paper liners.  Combine peanut flour, brown sugar, butter, and Skrewball if using, in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and sugar in a large bowl.  Combine the oil and melted butter and stir into the flour mixture until fully blended into fine crumbs.  Work with fingers if necessary to break up any larger crumbs.  In small bowl or liquid measure, whisk together the egg, sour cream, milk, mashed banana with lemon juice, and the vanilla.  Add to the flour/butter mixture and whisk just until smooth and no lumps remain.   Fill muffin wells a little less than one third full with batter.  Sprinkle generously with the filling mixture.  Top with another portion of batter until the muffin wells are about two thirds full.  (If you run a toothpick around the edge, it might make the muffins less likely to break in half at the streusel mark, which did happen to a couple of mine, though they are still delicious.)

 Bake at 375º for 23-28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.  Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  

While the muffins are cooling, combine the glaze ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until smooth.  Thin with enough milk to achieve a thick drizzle.  When the muffins have cooled, pipe or drizzle the icing across the tops.  Immediately sprinkle with the roasted peanuts. 
 

I decided to try to get fancy and pan roasted the chopped peanuts for the topping with a couple teaspoons of leftover streusel and a tsp of water for a candied nut topping.  It wasn't bad but just plain chopped peanuts are fine, or it would be easier to just chop up some honey roasted peanuts!

Enjoy! 

Here are some more muffins for your Monday:

• Peanut Ripple Banana Muffins:  A Messy Kitchen
• Cinnamon Stuffed Streusel Muffins:  Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Lemon Pomegranate Muffins:  Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Oatmeal Zucchini Muffins with Dried Cranberries:  A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Peanut Butter Banana Muffins:  Food Lust People Love
• Simple Banana Muffins (2 Bananas = 6 Muffins):  Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice