Banana Crunch Muffins

I am in a dinner club with a lovely group of Mom's in our area. The basic premise is that the host creates the menu and emails out the assigned recipes (or wine) to those who will be attending. The host makes the main entree and the rest is created by the guests! Anyways, the theme for our dinner this month is Breakfast and I was asked to make the Banana Crunch Muffins. Yum--I love anything made by the Barefoot Contessa so I was happy with this new creation of hers. They were just as delicious as they sound...and who doesn't have a few overripe bananas lying around?

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/banana-crunch-muffins-recipe/index.html