Banana muffins with a surprising filling are perfect for breakfast, with coffee, in a lunchbox or as an after school snack.Do you remember that scene from the “Forrest Gump” movie, where Tom Hanks, while waiting for the bus, picks a chocolate from his box and then takes a bite? And then he says “My mama always said ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.'” Well, these muffins are full of surprises, too!

My Banana Muffins With Banana Peanut Butter Filling are full of flavor. They are made out of healthy stuff like flaxseed, almond meal, coconut oil and lots of banana. When you take a first bite you don’t expect any surprises, probably thinking “oh, it’s just a banana muffin.” But then the flavor kicks in and “hmm, there is something yummy inside.” Yes, a slice of banana and a dollop of peanut butter! It doesn’t get much better than that!

 I like to use a pastry flour when baking sweets. Breads with their dense structure require bread flour. There are several types of flour available on the market. The main difference comes from the amount of proteins present in each type. When the proteins get mixed with liquid they form gluten. The more gluten there is, the sturdier the dough will be. Pastry flour has about 9% protein content, bread flour-14% and the all-purpose flour between 10-12%. All-purpose flour is the most commonly used type and works well in most recipes. If you are curious, try using the specific kinds when baking to see if you can taste the difference.

Start by measuring out the dry ingredients: flour, almond meal, flax seed, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Put them into a bowl. Next, in a separate bowl mash the bananas, then add coconut oil, egg and vanilla syrup. Stir and add the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Gently stir again.

Prepare the muffin pan.  Fill each muffin cup half way up with the batter, then place one slice of banana in the center and add a good teaspoon or two of the peanut butter. Cover with more batter.For the crumb topping, I use the same topping from my Look No More: Blueberry Muffins with Coconut. I like to make a bigger batch of it and have it ready when baking any muffins or crumb cake.

Serves: 10         Prep time: 15 minutes                Bake time: 18-20 minutes

Ingredients:

Muffins:

• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 3/4 cup pastry or all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 banana sliced into 10 slices
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

Crumb Topping:

• 1/4 cup butter, cold, cubed
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line the muffin pan with paper liners or lightly spray.
2. In a medium bowl mash the bananas. Add 1 beaten egg, 1/3 cup melted coconut oil and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
3. In a large bowl measure out the dry ingredients: flour, almond meal, ground flax seed, both kinds of sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Add the mashed banana mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently.
5.  Using ice cream scoop fill each prepared muffin cup half way up, then place 1 slice of banana and about 2 teaspoons of peanut butter in the center. Add more batter to fill up the muffin cups.
6. Crumb Topping: combine all of the topping ingredients in a bowl and using two forks mash the mixture until it resembles a coarse cornmeal. Alternatively, use a food processor. (check my Blueberry Muffins for pics and more details).
7. Sprinkle the topping onto the muffins.
8. Bake 18-20 minutes or until the top is golden.

Enjoy!