About a week ago when I went to the grocery store, I noticed that they had these bags with about a dozen or so bananas for just $1.99. The bananas were a beautiful yellow without a brown spot to be found on them.

Fast forward to today, I either needed to bake something with the remaining bananas or freeze them for later. To learn How to Freeze Bananas, click on this link.

What are Monkey Muffins?

Monkey muffins are a result of having several bananas that I wanted to use. I did not want the traditional banana bread or muffin , so I began to think about foods that just go together. You know, eggs & bacon, biscuits & gravy, and cheese and cracks.

Thinking about the common pairing of bananas,( peanut butter and bananas and chocolate and bananas) the next thought was why not all three together? The Perfect pairing of Bananas + Peanuts + Chocolate resulted in the creation of the Monkey muffins. The best of banana combinations brought together into one delightful and yummy treat.

Monkey Muffins- Banana, Peanut, Chocolate Muffins with a Chocolate Ganache Topping

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Ingredients

Muffins:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 medium to large bananas
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon banana extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup chopped peanuts
• 1 cup dark chocolate chopped or pieces

Ganache Topping"

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup dark chocolate pieces

Garanish:

• banana slices
• peanut halfs

Instructions

Muffins:

• Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins with liners
• In a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This will be about 5 minutes of mixing
• While the butter is creaming , in a large measuring cup ( 4 cup size) or medium size mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

  * I like to use a large measuring cup because of the ease of pouring the contents into the stand mixing bowl
• In another mesuring cup or bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, add the milk and extracts ( banana and vanilla). Ensure that the bananas are well mashed.
• Chop peanuts either by hand or use a food processor
  
• Add the eggs one at a time to the creamed butter.Mix well between eggs.

  Add flour mixture to creamed butter

  Add bananas to the creamed butter
• Remove mixing bowl from the stand and fold in peanuts and the chocolate with a spatula.
• Fill muffin tins with the batter and bake for 25 minutes
  
• Let muffins cool completely before adding ganache topping

Ganache Topping:

• Pour heavy cream into a 2 cup measuring cup and microwave until the cream is very hot , but not boiling….about one minute
• Place the chocolate pieces into a medium size mixing bowl. Pour the hot milk onto the chocolate and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes.

  Using a whisk, whisk the chocolate and milk together until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Garnishing the Muffins:

• Spread or drizzle chocolate gananche onto the tops of the muffins. ( to set the ganache quickly, place the muffins in the refrigator for a few minutes)

  If you are not a major Chocolate lover, you might want to just drizzle some over the muffins
• Place a slice of banana and few peanut halfs on top and serve.

Author: Beverly

How to store Monkey muffins

• Place in an airtight container
• Omit the banana slice on top because the banana will brown in a day
• These muffins should freeze well. They will need to thaw by sitting out. If placed in the microwave to thaw, the chocolate ganache will melt and run off of the muffin.

Don’t monkey around and not try this recipe. This quick and easy recipe will surely become a favorite recipe for your ripe bananas.

Let me know what you think about this recipe

Cheers…….Happy Baking