banana muffins with crunchy pecan topping

Monday morning I started boot camp at the gym, I can't believe I am actually able to roll out of bed before 6 am and get my butt to the gym. Luckily I'm a morning person and the hardest part about boot camp for me is getting out the door. After finishing an hour of boot camp torture (in a good for me kind of way) I can't wait to eat! I am always looking for a grab and go breakfast I can eat on my way to work and the dozen bananas I had in the freezer were begging to be used. The eggless banana bread I posted a couple weeks ago was delicious but I couldn't resist making these banana muffins to have for a quick breakfast. But while I was scooping the mixture into the muffin tins I realized that these needed something extra.  And that's when the crunchy, sweet, buttery topping came in. This topping reminds me of the pecan pralines you can buy or sample at those candy stores on Market St. in Charleston, SC. These banana muffins aren't necessarily as healthy as I first intended but they do have lots of banana in them. Make these muffins with or without the topping but if you make them with it, you won't regret it! 

Banana Muffins with Crunchy Pecan Topping

recipe adapted from: Joy the Baker

for the muffins:

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 c. old-fashioned oats 

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp canola oil

1 egg, beaten

2 egg whites, beaten

3 large bananas, mashed

for the crunchy pecan topping:

1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick), softened 

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. chopped pecans 

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. In a smaller bowl, mash bananas and then add the canola oil and whole egg into the same bowl and mix. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and mix well. In a separate medium sized bowl, beat egg whites until medium stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions. For the crunchy pecan topping, mix together the butter, sugar, pecans and cinnamon in a clean bowl and add it to the top of each muffin before putting them in the oven. Grease muffin tin and bake muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a the toothpick test comes out clean. If you want to make this into banana bread, bake for 45-50 minutes. This made 13 regular sized muffins for me.