I’m sure you’ve heard me say that I prefer a somewhat healthy muffin. I know that I’ve told you before how I feel about overly sweet muffins – that if I wanted dessert, I’d rather just have a cupcake. But I did it anyway. I made these sweet, delicious muffins that offer very few nutritional benefits and really can’t be classified as anything but dessert.
You know what? I don’t regret it one bit.
These are the best muffins I’ve ever made and I wouldn’t change a thing about them. The banana and white chocolate are perfect together and the tart cherries help to balance the extra sweetness from the white chocolate. The streusel topping, perfect.
When I noticed three well-aged bananas sitting in the fruit basket (they grow up so fast, don’t they?), I figured I’d actually make some banana bread this time instead of banishing them to the back of the freezer. Since I’m in the process of eating down the pantry, I also pulled out a half-empty bag of white chocolate chips that had been hanging out for a while. I learned from Amanda that white chocolate chips are really good in banana-flavored baked goods so I was pretty excited to give it a try myself.
At some point during the ingredient-gathering stage I decided that muffins sounded like more fun than bread. Then all of a sudden tart dried cherries had made their way onto the ingredients list. I was obviously in one of those throw-it-all-in-there moods, so it should come as no surprise that I felt a streusel topping was necessary as well.
I’m glad I let go and followed my instincts on this one. These muffins were outstanding and I take back anything I ever said about muffins needing to be a bit healthy. I’ll never give up the healthy ones, but there’s certainly room for an occasional muffin indulgence. Enjoy!
Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
Muffin Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped dried tart cherries
1. Place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin (I use Baker’s Joy) or line with paper cups (I spray the inside of the paper cups with baking spray, too).
2. Make streusel topping: In a small bowl, blend together brown sugar and flour. Blend butter into the sugar mixture with your fingertips until it has a sandy, crumb-like texture. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, oil, sugar and vanilla; stir in mashed banana.
5. Pour banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until just combined. Don’t overmix, but make sure all the flour has been scraped off the bottom of the bowl and mixed in. Fold in white chocolate chips and cherries.
6. Divide batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle streusel mixture over the muffin batter, letting it mound slightly in the center of each muffin.
7. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 21-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let muffins cool slightly in pan then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Related Recipes:
- Cherry Pecan Bran Muffins
- Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts
- Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins
- Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins
- Peach and Banana Bran Muffins
Around the Web:
- Nutella Banana Muffins from Delicious Days
- Blueberry Banana Muffins from My Kitchen Snippets
- Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins (gluten-free) from Gluten-Free Goddess
- Banana Muffins with Pecans from Nami-Nami
- Banana Nut Muffins from Simply Recipes
Looks and sounds delish looking at the ingredients and how you describe it! Bookmarking this for future reference. Thank you for sharing!
4:59 pm Mar 12th, 2010They do look so pretty! I am going to bookmark these too. What a great comination of flavors.
5:12 pm Mar 12th, 2010Ooo, those sound fantastic! Do you think they could be made with the white wheat flour?
7:20 pm Mar 12th, 2010Looks delicious! Will definitely be making these soon!
7:30 pm Mar 12th, 2010So glad you decided to give these a try! I’m firmly in the cupcake-like sweet muffin camp.
8:20 pm Mar 12th, 2010I am bookmarking these immediately!! Those are some great flavor combination. I am a huge cupcake fan myself, but I must give these a try!
8:32 pm Mar 12th, 2010I love muffins like these… they look great!
9:59 pm Mar 12th, 2010Looks fabulous! Would be great for my afternoon tea.
11:58 pm Mar 12th, 2010fabulous!
12:38 am Mar 13th, 2010Muffins…cupcakes…as long as they’re yummy I don’t care what you call them! These sound delicious. I love the cherry/white chocolate add-ins. We all need a little indulgence every once-in-a-while!
12:48 am Mar 13th, 2010These look great!!
6:12 am Mar 13th, 2010these reminded me of Starbucks new cherry mochas. I’ve not tried them yet. These sound yummy tho. Thanks!
12:58 pm Mar 13th, 2010Yum! Those look amazing!
1:20 pm Mar 13th, 2010This is a good way to use products that are just sitting on the pantry or fruit basket rather than putting them to waste. I will try this recipe soon.
7:12 pm Mar 13th, 2010I just made these- my husband declared these to be the Best.Muffins.Ever. My 2 year old triplets are currently shoving bites of warm muffins into their mouths saying “Mmmmmm Mmmmmm”! I will definitely be making these regularly- thanks for the wonderful recipe!!
7:39 am Mar 14th, 2010I’m pretty sure I just drooled all over myself. These look incredible! I approve of “throw everything in” baking moods!
8:56 am Mar 14th, 2010These look wonderful and so perfectly fluffy and muffin like. My muffins always turn out too cakelike so will have to give this a go
10:16 am Mar 14th, 2010sinfully delicious… I personally love the taste of white chocolate chips
2:08 pm Mar 14th, 2010Your recipes always look soooo goood. mmmm muffins
6:27 pm Mar 14th, 2010Yum! I would love to buy these from you! For some reason i don’t make too many muffins these days, preferring to indulge in chocolate bars instead! Yours look so good, I am tempted to make them!
8:15 pm Mar 14th, 2010These look amazing! I can’t wait to try them this weekend. I am not a fan of cherries though I have never had a good cherry experience I will give them a try since I have some up in the cabinet.
7:03 am Mar 15th, 2010wow…I bet these won’t last in anyone’s presence for very long!
Look delish!
6:50 pm Mar 15th, 2010wow…I bet these won’t last in anyone’s presence for very long! Look delish!
6:17 am Mar 17th, 2010Banana and chocolate, great combo!
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12:16 pm Mar 17th, 2010Am I missing something? I don’t see when you add the cherries.
8:37 am Mar 18th, 2010Aimee – I see that too. I’m assuming that you’d add them in with the chocolate chips.
8:40 am Mar 18th, 2010Sorry, guys! Yes, the cherries are supposed to be folded in with the white chocolate chips. I just fixed it
10:14 am Mar 18th, 2010[...] Pinch My Salt – Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips [...]
4:02 pm Mar 19th, 2010[...] Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips [...]
8:51 am Mar 20th, 2010Do you think that plantains would work in place of the bananas? To be honest, I can’t say if I have ever had a plantain, but that is all they had that were ripe…
1:09 pm Mar 20th, 2010I love the sound AND the look ot this item. I’m definitely trying them when I locate some tart cherries. Muffins are a great item for Friday eats in my hubbies office, but of course, I always keep a ‘few’ around for my own indulgence.
This will be no exception.
11:18 am Mar 21st, 2010I love ‘clear out your pantry [or one measly cupboard] recipes’. There’s a lot of half used stuff in there! And these muffins look so delicious, I’d love to try them even if I don’t have anything to clear out!
10:23 am Mar 23rd, 2010This looks scrumptious.. and a nice way to clear out the cupboards. Kudos to your creativity in the kitchen.
1:22 pm Mar 27th, 2010That’s such a wonderful way to make use of those aging items in your pantry and then came up with these mouthwatering treat. These muffins sound and look so yummy! I love muffins and am always looking for new variations. This banana – white chocolate – cherry combination is one I must try and I can’t wait to get some bananas now so they can start to get all ripen to prepare for this treat soon. Thanks for this recipe.
2:59 am Mar 28th, 2010I made these muffins for an office meeting and they were a HUGE hit. A double batch didn’t make it past 10am. I don’t make muffins all that often (I figure, why not just make a cupcake?) but these could make a muffin convert out of anyone. Delicious!
5:15 pm Apr 1st, 2010I agree with many of the people above these really look amazing. I’m a big fan of muffins and the banana and White chocolate and cherry combination is definitely something I must try.
3:37 pm Apr 26th, 2010They looks so good! And what they have inside makes me crazy, I love bananas, white chocolate and cherries. I just have to try this recipe.
1:25 am May 4th, 2010This sounds like a delicious treat.
Sierra from http://www.theSkinnyonDietitians.com
“Your Leading Directory for Registered Dietitians”
11:13 am May 13th, 2010Hi,
12:28 pm Jun 14th, 2010These are so very good… the best muffins ever and I don’t even like baked goods with bananas.
Wow, what a surprise for breakfast! I would love to try these for a holiday breakfast where everyone is sitting around and talking over coffee.. they look just scrumptious. I can’t wait to try to make them, hopefully they turn out as perfect as yours!
4:39 pm Jul 19th, 2010-Sylvia
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[...] Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips [...]
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