Cinnamon Sugar Banana Nut Muffins

I always find myself with one overly ripe banana left on my kitchen counter. Since most recipes for banana bread or banana cookies call for more than one banana it's always tricky to figure out how to use it. Last week I tossed it in a smoothie and the week before I bit the bullet and ate it. But this time around I thought I'd bake up a small batch of muffins using only one large spotted banana. That's right... it's a half batch. Aside from the fact that we only had 1 banana, we can never eat an entire batch of 12 muffins, so 6 just seemed practical. If you happen to have two ripe bananas then go ahead and double it. I wanted to experiment a little with this recipe. I knew I wanted to use a little bit of whole wheat flour but I also wanted to add nuts and some kind of topping that wasn't crumbly or overwhelming. I ended up using ¼ c. of whole wheat flour, which made them just a little more wholesome and then tossed in  ¼ c. of chopped pecans. The topping is a cinnamon sugar mixture that you sprinkle on top once you've scooped the batter into the muffin tin. Have you ever walked by one of those nut stands at a sporting event, you know, the ones that sell those cinnamon sugar coated pecans? Yep, your entire house will smell like one of those!

Cinnamon Sugar Banana Nut Muffins
Ingredients
¾ c. all-purpose flour (or 1 c. if you don't want to use wheat)
¼ c. whole wheat flour
⅓ c. brown sugar
1 egg
6 tbsp. melted butter
2 tbsp. sour cream or buttermilk
½ c. mashed ripe bananas, from one large banana
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cinnamon, heaping
¾ tsp. vanilla
¼ c. chopped nuts, plus more to sprinkle on top

Cinnamon sugar sprinkle:
1 tbsp. sugar
¹⁄₈ tsp. cinnamon, heaping

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray or line six wells of a standard size muffin pan, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar. Add sour cream (or buttermilk) and mashed bananas, mix on low for 30 seconds. Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk together then with mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Remove bowl from stand and fold in chopped nuts. Using a large scoop, fill each well ¾ of the way full (or a little more if you have some extra). Sprinkle with extra nuts. In a small bowl combine cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle mixture over the tops of each muffin.
4. Place in oven and bake for 18-22 minutes. The tops should be lightly golden brown and they should be nice and firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 2-3 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve just by themselves or with some whipped cinnamon butter!
NOTE: You will want to double this recipe for 12 muffins
Life Made Simple Original Recipe | Makes 6 standard size muffins