Overripe bananas? Make muffins

(Freshly baked banana muffins are a warm breakfast treat)

Warm muffins fresh from the oven are one of my favorite breakfasts. They are especially satisfying on dreary, rainy mornings when a cup of coffee begs for company.

I had some overripe bananas sitting on the counter the other morning (a dreary, rainy one, in fact), and thought about making a batch of muffins. Recipes typically call for about 3 large bananas for muffins or bread, but I only had two, so I chopped up an apple to add to the mix.

Adding an almond-streusel topping to the muffins gave them a delicious crunch. And I just happened to have an open bag of mini chocolate chips on hand (leftover from that Minute Chocolate Mug Cake!), which go famously with banana cake batter.

The recipe took no time to put together and they were out of the oven in about 20 minutes — perfect timing for that second cup of coffee.

Almond-Streusel Banana-Apple-Chocolate Chip Muffins

1. 1 cup of white flour
2. 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3. 1 teaspoon baking powder
4. 1 teaspoon baking soda
5. pinch of salt
6. dash of cinnamon
7. 2 very ripe bananas
8. 1 medium apple, peeled, diced
9. 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
   
10. 1/4 cup brewed espresso
11. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
12. 1/2 cup sugar
13. 1 egg
14. 1/3 cup butter, melted
15. 1/4 cup brown sugar
16. 1/4 cup sliced almonds, chopped
17. 2 tablespoons flour
18. dash of cinnamon
19. 1 1/2 tablespoons firm butter
    

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees; lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
• In a large bowl, mix together the 1 cup of white and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flours with the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
• In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with the espresso; add the apple.
• Mix in the sugar, vanilla, egg and melted butter.
• Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture and mix well (don't overmix); fold in the chocolate chips before the batter is completely mixed.
  

• In a separate bowl, mix the almonds, 2 tablespoons flour, brown sugar and cinnamon together. Crumble in the 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and mix with your fingers until the consistency of coarse cornmeal.

(Save room for the topping on top of the batter)

• Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the muffin tins.
• Bake for about 20 minutes until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

You don't have to wait for a dreary morning to make these muffins — they're good any time of the day, in any kind of weather!