These Banana Upside Down Muffins turned out positively delicious. I love upside down desserts, the way the sugar caramelizes and just melts in your mouth. Adding the fabulous flavor of bananas to the mix was just icing on the… muffin!
Quite a while ago I received a cookbook called Sweet!: From Agave to Turbinado, Home Baking with Every Kind of Natural Sugar and Sweetener by Mani Niall. I had thumbed through it several times and bookmarked quite a few recipes, but never found the time to make anything.
Banana Upside Down Muffins
On a side note, there was an error in this recipe in the book. I contacted Chef Mani Niall through his website and he was super nice and very helpful with straightening things out. The recipe below is correct.
As you’ll see from the picture below, I did have a couple of casualties when inverting the pan.
I love pineapple upside down cake and I love bananas. So when I saw the name of this recipe I knew it would be something I would enjoy. Even the kids liked the flavor of these muffins! So if you are like me and you get tired of making banana bread, try this delicious recipe on for size. These are perfect breakfast or brunch muffins!
If you prefer it as a dessert, pair it with some freshly whipped cream sweetened with powdered sugar and a little banana extract, sprinkled with cinnamon.
More upside down desserts
You just cannot go wrong with classic pineapple upside down cake made in a cast iron skillet. This recipe tends to be very nostalgic for people because this is how their grandma or great grandma always made it. Nostalgic recipes are dear to our hearts because it helps people remember those that are no longer with us.
A different approach is this blueberry upside down cake. Don’t be fooled, there are lots and LOTS of blueberries. You could probably cut down the number of berries if you wanted to. But would you really want to??
This recipe for raspberry upside down cake actually uses Bisquick! You remember Bisquick don’t you? It’s still around and still in people’s pantries. If you don’t use it though, read through the recipe and compare it to the blueberry upside down cake and I’m sure you could substitute with cake mix.
Banana Upside Down Muffins
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- non-stick cooking spray
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup dark muscovado or brown sugar packed (I used dark brown sugar)
- 4 ripe bananas
Muffins:
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour preferably organic
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup dark muscovado or brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Before You Begin
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 F. Lightly spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
- To prepare the pans, place 2 teaspoons of the butter and 2 teaspoons of the brown sugar in each muffin cup. Bake until the mixture in each cup is melted and bubbly, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool for a few minutes. Peel the bananas and cut them on a diagonal into 48 thin slices. In each muffin cup, place two banana slices on the bottom and two banana slices along the sides.
- To make the muffins, sift together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, eggs, milk, rum, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the egg mixture, and stir just until blended. Do not overbeat. Divide evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them as full as possible (be sure to divide them evenly, they will be about 3/4 way full).
- Bake until the center of a muffin springs back when pressed gently with your finger, about 18 minutes. Immediately invert and unmold the muffins onto a wire rack. Cool briefly and serve. The muffins are best the day they are made.
Amanda Davis
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comfycook says
I am not a great banana fan but these have a lot of appeal.
Mags says
Arrived here through Tastestopping. First of all, your photo is beautiful and secondly, I cannot wait to try these muffins. What a neat idea.
Pam says
Oh…gimme!….gimme! some…please!
Divine!
Pam
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
TeaLady says
Those look sooooo good. I love banana muffins, but these are above and beyond.
pinkstripes says
I so need to make these. They look amazing!
Morta Di Fame says
These look so gooey and fantastic! Thanks for investigating the recipe!
Amanda says
Thanks Joey, and I thanked Mel too for referring you here! :)
Jennifer – before this I've only done raspberries and pineapple, these were a definite keeper :)
Katrina – hope to see you blog that banana cake, the french toast sounds awesome!
Chow and Chatter- It doesn't hurt to try! I figured if I could find the author I would get a faster response than the publishing company LOL
Leslie and Meg – Thanks! They were awesome :)
Barbara – Ooooohhh bananas foster… mmmmm
biz39 – wow, it is small! I lived in Hoffman Estates when I was in 4th through 6th grade!
Therese – Hope to see you blog about them if you try them :)
Debbie – oooooo almond! yummy!
SugarB – Let me know if you try them! :)
LilSis – I LOVE LOVE LOVE pineapple upside down cake. I haven't tried cupcakes yet though :) YUM!
Alisa – Thanks! They had definite yum factor!
Alisa - Frugal Foodie says
Those look sooo incredible! Wow, I never would have thought of banana upside down cakes. Yum.
LilSis says
Wow! Those look great! I'll have to try them. I love anything with bananas. These remind me of the pineapple upside down cupcakes that I just made for the 4th of July.
SUGAR B says
I have some leftover bananas and you have inspired me!
Beautiful muffins!
Debbie says
What a great idea….they would be great with almond whipped cream!
Therese says
Ok this looks like it's to die for. I can't wait to try it. Thanks for the recipe!
biz319 says
Holy cow that looks amazing! Adding you to my blog roll!
I work in Barrington – my husband grew up in the Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates area – it is a small world!
Happy Monday!
Barbara Bakes says
Reminds me of bananas foster only in muffin form – yum!
meg says
These are beyond amazing! YUM!
Leslie says
These look amazing! With caramelized bananas…how can you go wrong!
Chow and Chatter says
this looks amazing so funny you contacted the author LOL
Katrina says
If ya know me, too, I love bananas! I made the bundt cake last week, but I made so many (tried to make it healthier)changes that it was a little dry. I turned slices of it in to banana bread french toast and everyone loved it!
These muffins look awesome and I would have never thought of it. I love even the name alone!
maryanne says
Katrina, I am interested in knowing which banana cake you converted to french toast(Amanda has several). Hubby said sounds like he wants to try the same!!
Jennifer says
I love this idea! Ive done upside down with other fruits but not bananas! Yum!
JoeyfromSC says
these look so good!! a twitter friend tweeted about you and that's how I found you! lol
(Thanks Mel4him)!
I like the texture of these! thanks for sharing!