Check Out This Muffin Top

(Aawww, here you are thinking I was going to show you pictures of some celeb's, or even my!, muffin top, when really I'm talking about breakfast muffins. Sorry to disappoint, but would it help if I told you that the other day my four year old told me I was making her hair muffy as I combed it? Where in the hell that came from, I don't know, but I definitely laughed like a sixth grader.)

I'm going to need you to go ahead and make these Banana Crumb Muffins.

Because when you do you will want to kiss me and say all kinds of nice things and possibly even send me gifts? Gifts would be nice.

These are really some of the best muffins you can make at home, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. About 2800+ people over at All Recipes, one of my very favorite sites on the web, agree with me. Actually, this is the number one recipe at AR, so we all can't be wrong, right?

The recipe is really basic but they come out of the oven looking like they are from some fancy schmancy deli, and they taste even better than they look. So good, in fact, that my husband ate FOUR of them this morning for breakfast. Um, yeah, they're that good. (He has even decreed them his very favorite muffin of all time ever to infinity.)

As usual, I made slight adjustments to the original recipe, but nothing too drastic.

Banana Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
walnuts to taste, optional
chocolate chips to taste, optional

Crumb topping:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, melted butter, vanilla and any optional nuts/chocolate chips.

Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together dry ingredients of crumb topping. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Easy as pie, or muffin, as it were. Impress your friends, neighbors and coworkers when you whip these up for the very next boyfriend saga, neighborhood brunch or when you need to do some serious kissing up. Now, about those gifts...