Banana Muffins a la Joe Beef
These are super fluffy cake-like banana muffins scented with warm spices.
These muffins are definitely on the cake side rather than the bread side that you might get away with calling “healthy”. They are also on the finicky side rather than the one-bowl-mix type quick breads I think of when making banana bread or banana muffins. With both of those things being said, these are worth making. Even though there is a weird gray banana mash thing that happens after you microwave bananas… and it uses like 3 bowls, a strainer, a pot, and a mixer… these are legitimately THE fluffiest muffins I have ever eaten and the banana cardamom combo is perfection.
Banana muffins are not inherently Canadian and I know I can stretch this cooking-from-a-country thing a little sometimes, but I wasn’t in the mood to make anything heavy (read: Pea Soup) or meaty (read: Tourtière), and after spending WAY too much time in the rabbit hole that is “best foods from X country” articles, I took a different tactic and went for food by association. Here is my train of thought: Montreal -> Restaurant Scene -> Joe Beef -> Cookbooks and recipes by Joe Beef chefs Frederic Morin and David McMillan -> random corners of the internet with recipe gems like this: “Joe Beef’s Banana Bread”.
I was not deterred by the line in the recipe that stated: “this is not an appetizing process” (which it was not) or the head note that stated: “even though you’d think the world has enough banana bread recipes” (which, IMHO, it does not — there is always room for more!). I persevered and tried it. Even before they were out of the oven, the smell in the house was magic and these fluffy muffins still warm and freshly baked were heaven. Sometimes internet rabbit holes, and recipes by association are in fact the gems we are searching for. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Banana Muffins a la Joe Beef
Makes 12 muffins
4 very ripe bananas, peeled (works well with frozen/defrosted bananas as well)
1½ (188 grams) cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sour cream
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. Place the peeled bananas in a large glass bowl. Microwave for two minutes, flip the bananas, and then microwave for another two minutes. They will get quite mushy and a bit gray, but the goal is to get them to release their liquid. Let sit for a few moments, then pour the bananas and the liquid into a strainer over a medium pan, collecting the liquid. Smash the bananas lightly to remove more liquid and let strain into the pot for a few moments.
3. Set aside the bananas and strainer, and move the pan to the stovetop, bring the banana liquid to a boil and reduce it by about half until slightly thickened. Add the bananas back in and set aside.
4. Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt) in a medium bowl until just combined. In a stand mixer or in another medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, I recommend a stand mixer as this can take a few minutes. Once fluffy and lighter in color, add eggs, one at a time, combining between additions, then add the vanilla and mix to combine. Mixing on low, add the dry and wet ingredients alternating between additions — add a third of the flour mixture, half the sour cream, and then half the banana mixture, then another third of the flour, the remaining sour cream, remaining banana, and finally the last third of the flour mixture. Give a final stir by hand to make sure everything is combined well and divide the batter among the 12-cup muffin pan, about 1/2 cup per muffin.
5. Bake for 23-30 minutes depending on your oven. Start with 15, and then rotate the pan for an even bake. Start checking for doneness at 23 minutes, using a toothpick which should come out clean. The muffins are a bit fragile, so it is best to let them rest in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing them to cool on a wire rack. They are absolutely delicious straight out of the oven and ethereally fluffy, just don’t burn your fingers!
Adapted from Deanna’s Daughter who adapted it from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef