Banana Nut Muffins

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Lightly sweetened with honey, these fluffy banana nut muffins are a delicious way to use up overripe bananas.

When I was in culinary school, the chefs would randomly (and terrifyingly!) inspect our trash cans to make we hadn’t tossed any scraps that could be repurposed into something else. I quickly learned that absolutely nothing is wasted in restaurant kitchens: stale bread becomes breadcrumbs and croutons; bones become stock; vegetable odds and ends become soup; cake trimmings become dessert trifles; and old bananas become muffins, cake, banana bread or banana ice cream. These fluffy banana nut muffins sweetened with honey and enriched with Greek yogurt are one of my favorite ways to use up overripe bananas. Instead of folding the walnuts into the batter, I toss them with honey and cinnamon and sprinkle them over top to give each muffin a sweet and crunchy lid.

What You’ll Need To Make Banana Nut Muffins

As you can see, you want your bananas to be pretty brown; the browner and spottier, the better! To speed up the ripening process, place your bananas in a brown paper bag and fold down the top.

If you have over-ripe bananas that you aren’t ready to bake with, peel them first and then place them in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer. Most banana bread recipes call for about three ripe bananas, so I freeze them in groups of three and defrost when the baking mood strikes.

How To Make Banana Nut Muffins

To begin, make the walnut topping: In a small bowl, toss the nuts with the honey and cinnamon until the nuts are evenly coated (the mixture will be sticky). Set aside.

Next, combine the dry ingredients for the muffins in a medium bowl.

Whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and honey.

Beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Add the banana, vanilla, and yogurt (or sour cream).

Beat until blended (the batter will look grainy; that’s okay).

Add the dry ingredients.

The batter will look like this.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin (the cups will be very full) and sprinkle evenly with the nut topping.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden and domed, 25 to 28 minutes.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

More ways to use up your Overripe Bananas:

• Banana Bread
• Chocolate Banana Bread
• Banana Bread with Coconut & Pecans
• Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread