Banana Coconut Muffaroons

I was in an elevator on my way up to a really important work meeting last week when the idea for this recipe jolted me. I thought that maybe the elevator cable had been cut, but it was just the impact of divine inspiration: you need to stuff chocolate macaroons into banana muffins.

Fantasizing about Ways to Use The ~~Rotting~~ Ripening Bananas on the Counter is a fun game for me, and as the bananas were about ready to ooze out of their black-spotted peels, I needed a supernatural force to speak to me- and supernaturally fast. (What actually did speak to me was a weird man on the elevator who said “I like your shoes”. Because I’m unfailingly nice [a quality that will probably get me murdered one day] I smiled and said “thank you”. He then said “are they comfortable?” and it was then that I knew I was sharing confined quarters with either an escaped felon, a parolee, or at the very least a foot-fetishist [which was the unlikeliest scenario because who likes size 11 feet, other than Sideshow Bob?].)

Anyways, the good news is that I made it out alive. The great news is that I had my Muffaroon* inspiration before the foot freak spoke to me (or pulled out a chloroform-doused cloth). (It’s also good news that he didn’t noticed my bunion, because I’m a bit self-conscious about it.) The bad news is that I was totally distracted for my meeting- all because I wanted to bolt home and preheat the oven**. Even if it meant risking another fetish-filled elevator ride.***

Adapted from my Banana Nut Bread and Coconut Macaroon recipes…

MACAROONS:

3/4 cup pecans, chopped and lightly toasted

3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into small bits, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 14-oz. package of Angel Flake coconut (or sweetened shredded)

BANANA MUFFINS:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar (packed)

2 large eggs

3 cups bananas (very ripe, mashed, about 7 medium)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. MACAROON BATTER:
  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Place pecans on a baking sheet and toast lightly in oven while it preheats (take out after 10 – 12 minutes, or when you can start to smell them). Cool nuts while you work.
  2. Melt chocolate in microwave in 20-second increments, stirring regularly until melted and smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl, stir all ingredients together (including cooled nuts and chocolate) until well combined. Set aside.
2. BANANA MUFFIN BATTER:
  1. Grease 24 muffin cups.
  2. In a medium bowl: combine flour, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a large bowl: cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs, bananas and vanilla, beating at medium speed until thick. Scrape sides of bowl.
  4. Add flour mixture, and stir on low speed until just combined… be careful not to overmix.
  5. Scoop muffin cups 1/3 full with banana muffin batter. Scoop a tablespoon of macaroon batter over bottom layer, then scoop muffin batter over top… be careful not to fill cups much past 3/4 full.
  6. Sprinkling a bit of macaroon batter on top of the muffins, and bake for 25 – 30 minutes (until cake tester comes out clean). Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove to cool to room temperature.
Tips:
- *Muffaroon: credit to The Husband for naming this recipe. He said “what are you going to call these- muffaroons?”. There could be no better name. He then said something stupid like macaffins and I advised him to end on a high note with muffaroons.
- **Our Evil Oven. Halfway through the baking time I peeked into the oven to smell the magic, and realized the temperature had inexplicably dipped to 300º. But of course. Fortunately I recovered by increasing the temperature and NOT having the oven turn off in protest like it usually does when I adjust it.
- Chocolate Sweetened Condensed Milk- OMG: Eagle Brand came out with this limited edition… why limited? How come bakers everywhere haven’t made it clear that this should be a staple pantry item? I used it instead of having to melt the chocolate in a separate step (like the recipe above) and I was a happy baker. See if you can find it. Good luck, tho, because I might have bought every last can.
- ***The foot guy: It’s totally possible he was just trying to be a friendly person, like maybe he was new to the English language or something and he was practicing elevator smalltalk. (I doubt it. I was wearing the most nondescript low black heels ever- my go-to Poco pumps), so even an ESL student would know better than to talk about them. It would be like complimenting a guy with a buzzcut on his hairdo.
- Want more banana bread/muffin & macaroon tips? Check out the original posts here and here.
- These muffins freeze well, if wrapped tightly.
- Enjoy!
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April 9th, 2016 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: Bananas, Breads & Muffins, Chocolate, Coconut