Caramel-Banana Muffins

Once again I found myself with an excess of bananas - note to self, maybe only buy one bag of bananas from Costco each week.  As much as I love banana bread, I thought that muffins would be a good change of pace and they are easy for my girls to carry to school and share with their friends.

I really wanted to add caramel to the bananas and found this recipe on the Midwest Living site.  Their recipe had a pecan-cinnamon sugar mixture added to it but, as much as I would have enjoyed it, I knew that the muffins would be enjoyed more by the girls if it was left out.

The muffins were baked for 20 minutes but they did not get very brown.  Since I did not want to over-bake them once they were ready I took them out of the oven. Maybe the pecan mixture would have helped the browning process, so I'll try adding it next time.  Also, I think that in future I would make my own caramel.  I was happy to use up some of the ice cream topping that has been in my refrigerator for a while, but it was very sweet.

Caramel-Banana Muffins
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients 

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 medium banana, peeled and mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons caramel-flavored ice cream topping
• 1 medium banana, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375℉.
2. Line twelve muffin cups with paper bake cups.
3. In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. 
4. In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, softened butter and ⅔ cup sugar with an electric mixer until well combined. 
5. Add egg and beat well. Beat in the mashed banana and vanilla until combined. 
6. In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
7. Add to the banana mixture, beating on low speed until just combined. 
8. Spoon half the batter into prepared muffin cups,
9. Drizzle ½ teaspoon caramel topping over batter in each cup. Top with remaining batter. If you like, top each muffin with 2 thin slices additional banana.
10. Sprinkle with tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture. 
11. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. 
12. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan. 
13. Serve warm drizzled with more caramel topping, if you like. 

Recipe from Midwest Living.