Banana Muffins

Ingredients

Cooking spray or paper muffin liners

• 4 very ripe large bananas
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 teaspoons granulated or turbinado sugar (optional), divided

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350ºF and prepare a muffin pan. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Coat the wells of a 12-well muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
2. Mash the bananas. Place the bananas in a large bowl and use the bottom of a whisk or a fork to mash into a purée. A few small lumps of banana are ok. You should have about 2 cups mashed banana.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients together. Add the oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir with a rubber spatula until just incorporated but no dry spots remain.
5. Divide the batter. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin wells, filling each one to the top, a heaping 1/2 cup of batter per well.
6. Top the muffins with sugar. Sprinkle each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon granulated or turbinado sugar, if desired.
7. Bake and cool the muffins. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until the muffins are golden, the tops bounce back when pressed, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes total. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

Storage: Muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Muffins can also be frozen for up to 3 months, then thawed at room temperature.