"Oh my! Pumpkin and banana muffins with brown butter icing"

Pumpkin and banana muffins with brown butter icing

Don't you love butter? It's wonderfully rich and makes everything taste well, better! I love pulling out this recipe for pumpkin cake every fall.

I simply make muffins out of them instead of cake. You could even do minis. How very cute.

I adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart.

And the icing. You have to make the icing. Make sure you don't burn the butter -- when you are heating the butter--stay put. Don't answer the phone, talk to your hubby or do the dishes. Just watch the butter turn from a bright yellow to warm, nutty brown.

The best thing about these muffins is that the icing is rich and cuts through the taste of the pumpkin. It makes my mouth sing.

Also, if you are like me, pumpkin can be a tad overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I love pumpkin, but too much is not a good thing. I substituted 1/4 cup of mushed bananas for pumpkin and it was great.

Enjoy your muffins on a cold night with a warm mug of coffee.

Here's the link for the recipe.

"Oh my! Pumpkin and banana muffins with brown butter icing"
Ingredients
Serves 8 to 10.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup homemade Pumpkin Puree, or canned
1/4 cup of banana, mashed

1/2 cup warm (110 degrees) milk (no, i did not measure temp)
Brown Butter Icing
Caramelized Walnut Halves
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Line pan with parchment, and butter the parchment. Coat pan with flour, and tap out any excess.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until combined. Add pumpkin puree and milk; beat until combined. Add reserved flour mixture; beat on low speed until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool. Let cake rest 20 minutes.

Unmold cake. Using an offset spatula, spread icing over top of cake, and decorate with caramelized walnut halves.
First published