Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Eggnog Muffins

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I love banana bread. I’ve had such a huge craving for it this fall! When I ended up with 3 very ripe bananas on my counter this weekend I knew exactly what I had to do with them. We also had Sugar Cookie Eggnog in the fridge, so I decided to make banana bread muffins with eggnog for a special holiday treat. I am in love with these delicious little muffins! They are are so decadently soft and perfectly fluffy. They’re also topped with a sweet cinnamon-streusel crumb topping and stuffed with rich morsels of dark chocolate, just for fun. The sugary, crunchy topping combined with the soft, melt-in-your-mouth muffin is such a wonderful combination. Heaven!

Now, don’t worry if you are like me — I can’t even stand to be in the same room as eggnog. It is just totally not my thing! You can’t even tell it’s there in the muffins. And you could easily replace the eggnog with buttermilk, sour cream, or vanilla yogurt if you are not a fan. BUT, if you do love eggnog…

You will love this special eggnog glaze for a little extra eggnog kick! :)

You gotta make these guys. Here’s what you’ll need. We found this fun Sugar Cooke Eggnog at Kroger. I’m missing brown sugar and powdered sugar in this picture for some reason!

First we’ll need to do a little prep work with the butter. Start out by adding one whole stick of melted butter to the workbowl of your mixer. We need this butter to be cooled, so swirl it around a few times to help it along.

Next we need some butter to be very, very cold, so cube two tablespoons of butter and stick it in the freezer to start chilling.

Now we can really start on these bad boys! Give your melted butter a few more swirls if it’s not cool yet, then add 1 cup of sugar…

1/2 cup eggnog…

And three very ripe bananas. These bananas were just right. Totally brown on the outside, but not brown or mushy on the inside. Beat with mixer until bananas are mashed and everything is well combined, about 2-3 minutes.

Next add two eggs…

And here’s where I was going to add a tablespoon of vanilla, but at the last minute I decided I wanted to use a vanilla bean, because I love the speckled look a vanilla bean gives. You can find vanilla beans almost everywhere, and they can be used in place of vanilla extract for a special touch. Check the McCormick’s spices in the spice section of the grocery store. To use a vanilla bean, split it in half…

And use the back of your knife to scrape out the vanilla bean seeds, aka the “good stuff”.

Beat this until eggs and vanilla bean seeds are well combined, another 2 minutes or so. See? Perfect little vanilla bean flecks! I love these.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add to wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Finally, add 1 cup dark chocolate chips to the bowl that had the flour in it…

And toss around to coat with any leftover flour. This will help keep the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the muffins. Add chocolate chips to batter and stir to combine.

I found these fun Parchment Lotus Cups at Kroger and thought they would be perfect for muffins! I love the rustic look of these liners.

With these liners I was able to fill my muffin tin all the way to the rim. It took exactly two scoops of a Large Baking Scoop (each scoop is about 3 tablespoons) and it made 12 muffins exactly. Of course you can always just use regular muffin tin liners, or you don’t have to use liners at all. Just be sure to spray your muffin tin generously with baking spray if you choose to go that route!

These are almost ready for the oven, but first they need their crunchy cinnamon sugar streusel topping! :)

Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and those 2 tablespoons of frozen butter in a bowl. I am still using that same bowl from earlier, less dishes to wash! :)

Use a knife or a pastry cutter to combine until moist and crumbly, it will take about five minutes. This part’s a pain, see if you can talk someone else into doing it. ;) About 30 seconds in is when I remember how much I love those boxed mixes where the streusel topping just comes in a bag. But then I bite into a warm, soft muffin with that perfect crumbly sugary top, and I remember how totally worth it is. It’s everyone’s favorite part!

Generously sprinkle the crumb topping over the muffins. You will use it all! :)

Bake these at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or with moist pieces clinging to it.

You guys. These are so good.

Love this crunchy topping!

And the warm, soft, fluffy inside.

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I love these with just a touch of melted butter.

Just melt together one tablespoon of butter with two tablespoons of eggnog and whisk in one cup of powdered sugar.

Then drizzle over these perfect little muffins.

Hope you enjoy these guys!! And if you love eggnog treats, check out this gorgeous Pumpkin Eggnog Bread from the beautiful Dine and Dish blog.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Eggnog Muffins

Muffins
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup eggnog
3 very ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or the seeds from one vanilla bean)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Cinnamon Streusel Crumb Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter, diced

Eggnog Glaze
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoon eggnog
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard-sized muffin tin with liners. Add butter, sugar, eggnog and bananas to the workbowl of a mixer. Beat until well combined and bananas are mashed, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined, another 2 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into muffin tins.

2. To make the Cinnamon Streusel Crumb Topping, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and cold butter with a knife or pastry cutter until moist and crumbly. Generously sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or with moist pieces clinging to it.

3. To make the Eggnog Glaze, melted the butter with the eggnog, then whisk in 1 cup powdered sugar. Pour over warm muffins. Enjoy!!