Roasted Banana Brown Butter Muffins

Browning butter

I recently read a post about a beautiful roasted banana scone recipe and as I had bananas on hand I decided to test the theory of roasting them for banana bread muffins. With all the sugars coming out during the roasting it requires less sugar, always a good thing. And while I was at it, one of my favorite muffin recipes are date with brown butter, I thought browning up the butter for this would work as well and well mesh with the toasted pecans I threw in. To make it healthier I substituted ½ white flour for wheat, which added a nice texture. And finally, going off a Simply Recipe’s recipe for banana muffins I saw she added in espresso, so I decided to grind up some of my delicious H-E-B Taste of San Antonio coffee and add that as well. The result was delicious. Healthy enough, but not so much that it’s completely transparent in the final product.

Roasted Banana Brown Butter Muffins

3-4 roasted bananas

1/3 c. browned butter

¾ c. sugar

1 beaten egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. strong ground coffee or espresso

1 tsp. baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup AP white flour

½ c. whole wheat flour

1 c. chopped toasted pecans

To roast the bananas:

Preheat oven to 350. On a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil place the bananas in their skin. Roast them for 12-15 minutes or until nearly all black on the outside. Set aside and let them cool. While they're cooling you can toast the pecans and brown the butter. Once cool, remove from skin and mash.

1. Keep oven on at 350. In a large mixing bowl combine the mashed banana and the browned butter. Incorporate the sugar, egg, vanilla and coffee grounds. Sprinkle salt and baking soda over. Carefully fold in the flours until just mixed in.

2. Pour mixture into lined muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check for doneness and let cook on a rack.