Caramel Banana Walnut Muffins

King Arthur Baking Products are high on my list. Nope, this isn’t a paid advertisement! I receive their free catalog routinely, and it’s one catalog I actually look through. Great recipes are included along with product suggestions. Their recipes are not included without their trial run. (Neither are my recipes, BTW.) Yep, you guessed it! This is one of theirs. I had all the ingredients (*well not white whole wheat flour) and we were hungry for muffins now. These didn’t disappoint!

*Just a word about whole wheat flour vs white whole wheat flour. As I mentioned this recipe calls for white whole white flour. I used whole wheat flour instead. White whole wheat flour is not simply bleached whole wheat. It’s actually a different wheat which leads to a less dense baked product. While my muffins were perfect I can’t say they might have been better if I had used white whole wheat flour instead.

Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease a 12 muffin (regular size) tin. This recipe could make a great banana bread, I’ll bet.

1 Cube (8T) butter-room temperature
2/3 Cup brown sugar-I used dark but recipe called for light
2 Medium bananas-mashed, about 1 cup
1 Egg-room temperature
1 Teaspoon vanilla (I used a homemade vanilla, gifted, and will include this recipe in my next post.)
1/3 Cup milk-room temperature or at least take the chill off
1 Cup each of unbleached all purpose flour & white whole wheat flour (Yes, I used King Arthur.)
1 1/2 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup caramel chips (substitute chocolate if you like or a combination of both)
1 Cup toasted chopped walnuts

Toast your walnuts first. Place chopped walnuts in a skillet (I use a nonstick.) over low-medium heat. When nuts begin to darken (no burnt nuts, please) and you begin to smell the toasty-ness they are done. Remove from heat and let cool.

Whisk together the 5 measured dry ingredients; white whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar.

Mix in the banana, egg, vanilla, & milk to the butter/sugar mixture.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated but not over-beaten.

Fold in chips and cooled roasted nuts.

Spoon batter into muffin tin, divided equally among the 12.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Check with toothpick (comes out clean) if you are not sure.

Remove muffin tin to wire rack for about 3-5 minutes then remove carefully from the muffin cups. I again use a non-stick and they came out perfectly.