Although I believe this basic banana bread recipe cannot be improved upon, I was aching to do something a little new with my overripe fruit this time. Banana Bread is one of the most viewed recipes on this blog and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies is a close second. That is what sparked the idea to make something of a crossover between the two.
A quick search turned up this recipe on Epicurious. It looked a lot like my favorite banana bread recipe, with the melted better and all, so I gave it a go. After my first bite, my tongue relaxed into heaven and my head screamed, “WHY HAVEN’T I THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE?!?”
Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins
Bon Appetit, June 1991, Found on Epicurious.com
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted, chopped
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease twelve muffin cups or line with muffin papers. Sift first 4 ingredients into large bowl. Combine bananas, both sugars, butter, milk and egg in medium bowl. Mix into dry ingredients. Fold in half of nuts. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining macadamia nuts. Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack and cool.