Bananas Foster Muffins

sweets by sillianah via Fine Cooking’s RecipeMaker

Streusel topping & rum glaze from Brown Eyed Baker

Makes 18 muffins

For the Pecan Streusel Topping:

1½ cups chopped pecans

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, cold

For the Rum Glaze:

¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter

2 tablespoons water

¼ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup rum

For the Muffins:

3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1-1/3 cups granulated sugar

10 tablespoons (5 oz.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1-1/2 cup thinly sliced bananas

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For topping:

In medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients for streusel topping with your fingers.  Make sure all of the butter is evenly distributed to create a crumbly topping.  Set aside.

For rum glaze:

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the butter, water and sugar.  Bring to a  boil and reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum.  Keep covered and set aside.

For muffins:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil baking cups.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs, and egg yolk until well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold gently with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are mostly moistened (the batter will be lumpy)--there should still be quite a few streaks of dry flour.

Sprinkle the bananas and vanilla extract onto the batter, and fold them in until just combined. (The batter will be lumpy; don’t try to smooth it out.) Do not overmix.

Use an ice cream scoop if you have one with a “sweeper” in it; otherwise, use two spoons to spoon the batter into the muffin cup, about ¾ full.  

Bake until the muffins are golden brown and spring back lightly when you press the middle, 25 to 30 minutes.  Let muffins cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then, using a skewer, carefully poke holes on the top of each muffin. Using a pastry brush, brush each muffin with the rum glaze once, and let sit for about 5 minutes.  Repeat with remaining glaze, as desired.