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.

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

Remember my first madeleines from the beginning of the year?  Well, I decided to give them another try – this time with a completely different recipe.  The result?  Madeleines that are even better than the first batch!   I used this recipe from Bitten, and the only real change I made was to substitute lemon zest for orange zest.

I didn’t bother piping the filling into the molds, a spoon worked just fine.  Just make sure you don’t overfill them like I did!  The recipe says it yields 12 to 15, but I think you could probably get up to 18 full-size madeleines if you scrape the bowl (and don’t overfill the molds like I did).

What I really loved about these madeleines was the texture.  They were light and tender, buttery, and perfectly crisp along the edges.  The only thing I wish I could change about the recipe is the amount of batter it produces.  I wish that it produced either 12 or 24 madeleines – I can’t stand half-filled pans or leftover batter!  So the next time I make madeleines, I’ll try the one from David Lebovitz that yields 24 cakes!

Do you have a favorite madeleine recipe?  Want to share some tips or tricks?  If so, come join the discussion at the Baking 101 group on Facebook!  Created by Master Baker Klecko and food writer Kim Ode, Baking 101 has become a place where beginners and professionals mingle, ask questions, share photos, and discuss all things baking-related.  And if you’re on Facebook anyway, you’d might as well become a fan of Pinch My Salt!

Happy baking!

This soft, light sandwich loaf is the 18th bread I’ve baked for The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge.  Yes, I’m slowly but surely plowing through the book, and although there are still 28 breads ahead of me, I am confident I will finish the book…eventually!

Mr. Reinhart’s Light Wheat Bread was definitely a crowd pleaser – easy to make, easy to eat, and not too bad to look at, either.  The proud loaf that came out of my oven puts store-bought sandwich bread to shame and the simple formula is perfect for beginning bread bakers. Continue reading →

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

On a whim, I decided to try making heart-shaped cinnamon rolls for a fun Valentine’s Day treat.  I had no idea if it would work, but I was thrilled  with the results.  They turned out so cute, I had to share the technique with you even if it’s a bit late to make them for today’s Valentine’s breakfast.

But who says you can only eat heart-shaped food on Valentine’s Day? Continue reading →

Flatbread is the star of this week’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge post, and these lavash crackers were fun and easy to make, beautiful to look at, and absolutely delicious. I have tasted the soft version of lavash before, but was completely unfamiliar with crackers like these.  The dough is very similar to pita dough, but it is rolled thinner and baked longer than pita.  The crackers can be left plain or adorned with salt, seeds and/or spices – I chose to use everything.  While not quite as crisp as traditional American crackers, the flavor was outstanding and they would make a perfect accompaniment to your favorite dip or spread. Continue reading →

I was searching through old photos today and found these whole wheat blueberry muffins I made a while back.  Since I remember them tasting just as delicious as they look, I decided that they shouldn’t be kept hidden on my hard drive any longer.

The muffin recipe came from Elise at Simply Recipes and the only change I made was to use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat Flour instead of all-purpose flour.  If you haven’t started baking with white whole wheat flour yet, now is the time to start! Continue reading →

Sometimes I think I would be perfectly happy in the kitchen making nothing but muffins all day long.  Quick to prepare and endlessly adaptable, muffins are fun, easy, and delicious – and I believe everyone should learn to bake them.

If you’ve been reading about my kitchen adventures for any length of time, you already know that I tend to make a lot of whole grain muffins.  While I do love sweet, cake-like muffins, I decided long ago that if I’m going to snack on something that tastes like dessert, I’d almost always rather go for an actual cupcake. Continue reading →

We’re back to the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge! Today I’m sharing my experience with the 16th bread in the challenge:  Kaiser Rolls.  I enjoyed these rolls so much I’ve made them twice already!  Like many of the breads in the book, these rolls do take two days to make, but they aren’t difficult and I found that they were both easy and a lot of fun to shape.

Kaiser rolls, also called New York hard rolls or Vienna rolls, are known for the distinctive star pattern on the top of the roll.  The traditional method for achieving the classic kaiser roll shape requires a series of overlapping folds that intimidates me quite a bit. Luckily, the book offers a couple of other options for creating beautiful kaiser rolls. Continue reading →