Brown Butter-Cardamom Banana Muffins

Topped with a crunchy sugar coating, these brown-butter-cardamom banana muffins are a delicious way to start the day.

I found this recipe in a Milk Street cookbook I had checked out from the library, and I just happened to have ripe bananas on the counter. Meant to be! Instead of making a loaf of banana bread, I made the recipe into muffins. Toasting the cardamom in the hot brown butter helped intensify its flavor, and I thought it was a clever trick. The muffins smelled incredible while they baked, and my daughter enjoyed them warm from the oven with a little butter and thought they were amazing.

Brown Butter-Cardamom Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp table salt
• 8 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1¼ tsp ground cardamom
• 2 cups ripe bananas, well-mashed  ***About 4 large very ripe bananas
• ¾ cup of brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp white sugar

How to Make Brown Butter-Cardamom Banana Muffins:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray or butter.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Brown the butter in a large, wide saucepan or pot over medium heat. Stir the butter often once it has melted. It will start to foam at the top, turn brown, and start smelling nutty. This process takes about 3-5 minutes, and the turn happens quickly, so watch carefully.

Immediately remove it from the heat. Add the ground cardamom and stir to combine.

Next, stir in the well-mashed bananas to the brown butter until combined. Stir in the brown sugar until very well combined.

Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Gradually add the banana mixture to the flour mixture. Using a silicone spatula, fold until just combined, and no dry flour remains.

Pour the batter equally in the prepared muffin pan.

Sprinkle the tops evenly with the white sugar.

Bake the muffins at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Side Note: This helps create a dome on top of the muffin. 

Remove from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.