These muffins are soft, tender, and full of banana.  The oatmeal crumb topping adds a nice crunch and makes them extra indulgent.  The batter comes together quickly and with minimal mess.  Making it perfect if you need a fresh baked good in a pinch.  The oatmeal crumb topping can be omitted if desired to make the muffins a little lighter and even faster to make.  

This recipe came about after a somewhat unsuccessful attempt at making a “healthy” banana muffin.  The original take had no flour, no sugar, and no butter.  The result was a flat, slimy, imposter of a banana muffin.  The flavor was okay, helped along by some cinnamon and nutmeg, but the texture was completely wrong.  Then I made a very foolish mistake, I had the brilliant idea of sharing them with my pregnant sister.  That did not go over well at all.  I was told in no uncertain terms that what I had made could not be considered a banana muffin.  So, after taking some “constructive” criticism I set out to make a bigger, better, and totally satisfying muffin. When presented to my sister (and the rest of my family) several weeks later, the muffins received an excellent review. Thus earning them the nickname “Redemption” Banana Crumb Muffins.     

The key to baking with bananas, whether it be muffins, bread, scones, or anything else, is having very ripe bananas.  This ensures that the bananas will be able to bring a lot of flavor, moisture, and sweetness to the finished product.  The more sweetness that comes from the bananas themselves, the less you will need to add in the form of sugar.  Also, I recommend leaving the bananas somewhat chunky when you mash them down.  Having small chunks of banana in the muffins, helps to further reinforce what the item is.  For mashing the bananas, I like to use the paddle attachment in a stand mixer.  It takes only a few seconds to mash up the bananas and then you can just keep building the batter from there.     

Some other ingredients of note in this recipe are…

Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Allspice:  Used sparingly these spices serve to enhance the flavor of the bananas and add some warmth to the muffins.  Not to mention your kitchen will smell amazing as the muffins bake.

Melted Butter and Canola Oil: The melted butter helps add some flavor and richness to the muffins.  Meanwhile the canola oil helps to add some additional moisture to the muffins without making them to heavy. 

Brown Sugar: The molasses in brown sugar adds some more depth to the flavor of the muffins.  Also, combined with the mashed bananas, melted butter, and canola oil, these four ingredients help to make the muffins soft and moist (no one wants to eat a muffin shaped brick after all). 

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Finally, the topping.  My favorite part ?

The crumb topping is a simple combination of cold butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and baking powder.  I like to use old fashioned rolled oats in the topping for extra crunch and texture.  A little baking powder helps give the topping a little “lift” and prevents it from weighing down the muffins and preventing them from rising. 

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Can I make it ahead?

Yes!  You can easily mix up the muffin batter the day before and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.  The crumb topping can also be made the day before.  It too should be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  When ready to bake off the muffins just scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan, top with the oatmeal crumble, and pop into the oven.  This is a great thing to do if you are planning a breakfast/brunch party.  The kitchen can smell like fresh muffins when your guests arrive, and you didn’t need to spend any time preparing the muffin batter that morning.