Nutty Peanut Butter & Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Uhmm yeah,  you read that correctly – I said Peanut Butter. Banana. Chocolate Chunk. Muffins… Yeah baby.

Now I know what you’re thinking…  “enough said” – am I right? I mean honestly, the title says it all. If I was reading this post title on another bloggers site, they would have had me at peanut butter – no further explanation needed.

Are we on the same page about peanut butter here? For me peanut butter has never needed any kind of justification. But I guess that’s just because I am a peanut butter addict. Seriously, if a group called peanut butter addicts anonymous existed, I would be a member.

 

The idea for these muffins was inspired by my all time favourite childhood {and adulthood} afternoon snack – aka, toast with peanut butter & banana slices… mhmmm. This was always my moms go-to when my brothers and I would roar in the door like starving animals after school.

She would hand us each a slice of warm, melty, peanut buttery toast that had been topped off with sweet banana slices, and there would be complete silence as we all gobbled that goodness down like hungry little bears.

Are you with me on this? Is there any better snack out there than the simplicity of peanut butter & banana toast? Probably not – but these muffins are a very close second 😉

So a couple days ago, there was a bit of bread shortage here in our house. Now because I was quite honestly just too lazy to venture out in the yucky Vancouver rain to pick up a loaf, my go-to snack of peanut butter and banana toast had become something of an impossibility, due to said lack of bread.

That is, unless I felt like whipping up a batch of homemade bread {which I didn’t}. Besides, I wanted the peanut butter and banana toast now, not later. So even though homemade bread would be undoubtedly delish, I was far to impatient/hangry to wait hours for some bread to proof.

So after seriously debating just eating peanut butter straight out of the jar with a banana spoon {which I am seriously not opposed to doing} and whilst in the midst of perhaps the most serious case of peanut butter/ banana withdrawal of my life, it came to me …”I shall make peanut butter and banana muffins to get my fix!” Genius??? Not quite…

Then it hit me …”I shall make peanut butter and banana muffins, but with a pile of milk chocolate chunks & toasted pecans thrown in”. Now genius??? Almost….

Then I thought …“I shall be super fancy today and brown the butter before adding it to the muffin batter!” That’s right – I browned the butter… ‘nough said.

So yeah, these muffins are the ultimate; the cream of the crop; the epitome of muffin perfection; the cat’s ass … – pardon my language –  seriously they are killer. Not only are these muffins packin’ the goodness of peanut butter, banana, milk chocolate and toasted pecans, but they also feature allll the wonderfulness of brown butter.

All joking aside – you gotta’ make these muffins. Cole {aka my expert recipe tester} described these bad boys as “peanut butter cups in muffin form”… Poetry, pure poetry – I truly I couldn’t have said it any better than my other half here. And let’s be honest, who in their right mind doesn’t want to eat a peanut butter cup in muffin form?

I’m done trying to explain how incredibly delicious they are – you gotta make em’ happen for yourself. So here is the recipe lovelies …

Nutty Peanut Butter & Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Makes: 6 Jumbo muffins or 12 regular muffins

Things you need…
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, browned
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1/2 cup good quality milk chocolate, chopped

Coarse sugar for sprinkling {optional}

How to make…
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees if you are using a convection oven or 400 degrees if you are using a regular oven. Grease your 6-mold jumbo muffin tin if you are using one, or just grease a regular 12 mold muffin tin; set aside.

First, brown your butter; In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt your butter. Once melted turn the heat up to medium-high and allow the butter to get bubbly – swirling the butter around your saucepan every so often to ensure bits don’t get stuck to the bottom and burn. Let your butter cook until fragrant and golden brown in colour. Remove from heat and whisk in your peanut butter. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mashed banana, egg and vanilla until well combined. Slowly stir in the butter/peanut butter mixture and stir until combined.

Pour wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and begin to gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Once the mixture begins to come together, add in pecans and chocolate and gently fold until all ingredients are just combined.

** Note: It is totally fine if you still have some streaks of dry ingredients that aren’t completely incorporated – this will just give you a nice tender muffin.

Scoop your muffin batter into your prepared tin, filling each mold right up to the brim. Sprinkle each muffin top with coarse sugar and place in the center rack of your oven.

Bake until the tops are golden brown, and the muffin tops spring back to the touch. If you are baking 6 jumbo muffins, they will need to bake for about 25 -28 minutes. If you are making 12 regular muffins, they will take about 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before you dive into one.

So there – you are now packin’ the recipe for some pretty rockin’ muffins. Are you excited? I’m excited for you!

These are hands down my new favourite muffin … pretty much because they combine all of my greatest food loves in life; peanut butter; banana; and of course, my very dear friend chocolate. {we’re kinda besties}

Happy muffin baking peeps <3

KP xoxo