What is brown butter?

Brown butter is melted butter that has been taken just past the point of melted to “brown it”. When you melt butter, you tend to get a separation of the milk solids (the white specks) and the yellow liquid, the butterfat. When you brown the butter, you toast the milk solids so they turn a golden brown which gives the whole thing a nutty flavour. You also see this method in cooking, like in crispy brown butter gnocchi with sage.

Do these have to be muffins?

You could also bake this in a 9x5 inch loaf tin for around 1h15 minutes at 160c. Or an 8x8 square tin for around 35-40 minutes at 160c again. Make sure you check with a skewer, it should come out nearly clean with just a few moist crumbs.

Are Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins suitable for freezing?

Yes, they freeze well. Pop the muffins in an airtight tupperware or container and freeze for around 2 months. Defrost them at room temp when ready to serve, for at least a few hours. I like to reheat them in the oven at 160c for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Name: Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: PT-481447H58M4S
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 380g VERY ripe and mashed banana (3-4 medium bananas); 115g unsalted butter,; 100g light brown sugar; 100g caster sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 130g thick Greek yogurt; 1 tsp bicarbonate of sod; 180g plain flour; ½ tsp salt; 250g dark chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks

Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

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4.5 from 2 reviews

The most delicious and simple Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins, with golden tops and soft, fudgy centres with pools of dark chocolate.

Author: Margie Nomura
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes + cooling time
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: Makes 12 muffins 1x
Category: Baking
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale

380g VERY ripe and mashed banana (3-4 medium bananas)
115g unsalted butter,
100g light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
130g thick Greek yogurt
1 tsp bicarbonate of sod
180g plain flour
½ tsp salt
250g dark chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to 190c and line a 12-hole muffin tray with liners/folded parchment paper.
Begin by browning your butter by melting the butter in a pan over medium heat. It will go from melted to then bubbling loudly before going quiet and foamy. Keep stirring until it turns a light amber colour overall but the flecks are dark dark brown, and you can smell chestnuts.
Once browned, pour into a bowl to cool down.
In a bowl, whisk together the melted brown butter and sugars for a minute until thick.
Add in your mashed bananas, eggs, yoghurt, and vanilla.
Once all of your wet ingredients are mixed together, gently stir in the flour, bicarb and salt. Then, fold in the chocolate chips, reserving around 24 chunks (a handful!) to push on top of each muffin.
Divide the batter into 12 muffins. Into the top of each, press 2 chocolate chunks.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let it cool completely before removing from the pan. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container.

Notes

These will get better the next day. But still delicious as they are - especially for from the oven and melty. So good.

If you don't have greek yoghurt, sour cream, creme fraiche or buttermilk will work too.

Find it online: https://desertislanddishes.co/banana-chocolate-chunk-muffins/