BANANA-NUT-SCOTCHIE MUFFINS

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well, ripe bananas are the mother of a new banana recipe. I used a 4-1/2 star recipe from allrecipes.com as a starting point and added bananas, butterscotch morsels, toasted walnuts and pecans, raisins, vanilla and a crumb topping. I subbed white whole wheat flour for all-purpose, took out all but 1 Tbsp. of the oil, and subbed stevia for half of the sugar.

I made half of the muffins with raisins and half with the butterscotch morsels and I really can't say which I like better, because all these flavors just blend so beautifully. But let me tell you upfront -- if you are looking for a fast, easy recipe, this is not it. There are a few steps involved and there are a lot of ingredients. The end result is worth it.

These muffins are moist, tender, flavorful, and just sweet enough. The crumb topping is crunchy and sweet and makes a nice intro to the muffin. These are high on my list, and I think they will be on yours too. There is one thing I would do differently next time, though: Instead of baking these for 14 minutes at 400F, I would heat the oven to 400F, put the muffins in, and immediately reduce the heat to 325F. They will probably take 16-20 minutes to bake, but the butterscotch morsels probably won't burn, as they did with these. Nothing got damaged, though, these are still a top-flight muffin. Another thing that would help is if you press the morsels into the tops of the muffins before sprinkling on the crumb topping. The morsels won't be quite as exposed then. So I've written those changes into the instructions below, and I encourage you to try these delicious treats soon, when you're in the baking mood and when you have some ripe bananas.

Banana-Nut-Scotchie Muffins

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:

TOPPING:

1 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. white whole wheat flour

3 Tbsp. quick oats

3 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 cup butterscotch morsels

MUFFIN: 1 cup quick (not instant) oats

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 cup toasted, chopped or broken walnuts, pecans or a combo of both

1/2 cup butterscotch morsels, OR 1/2 cup raisins or combo of both (1/4 cup of each)

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. oil

1/2 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup sugar + 1-1/2 tsp. Stevia)

1/2 tsp. molasses

1 large banana (about 1/2 cup) mashed

In large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk; set aside. If using raisins, in small microwaveable cup or bowl, heat 1/3 cup water to almost boiling; add raisins; set aside.

Prepare topping: In small microwaveable bowl, melt butter. Add remaining topping ingredients, except morsels. Stir with fork till combined; set aside.

Prepare muffins: Heat oven to 400F. Spray 11 muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray; place a few Tbsp. of water in the last remaining cup (to keep the empty cup from warping).

In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nuts. If using morsels, add them in.

Add egg, vanilla, oil, sugar, molasses and banana to the buttermilk-oatmeal mixture and mix well. Drain the raisins and add them and 2 Tbsp. raisin water. Now pour all of this over the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon or spatula just till mixed. Fill muffin cups almost full. Press the remaining 1/3 cup morsels into tops of muffins, dividing equally among the 11. Sprinkle crumb topping over morsels, pressing in slightly (use about 2 tsp./muffin). Place muffins in oven and immediately reduce heat to 325F. Bake 16-20 muffins, or till toothpick inserted near center returns with just a few crumbs. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm. Yield: 11 muffins, standard size