Salted Caramel Banana Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1/2 c. butter (1 stick) melted and cooled to room temperature
• 4 overripe bananas
• 2/3 c. applesauce (I use homemade, which is sweetened and spiced already, but unsweetened will work just fine)
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1/3 c. 2% or full fat greek yogurt (Fage works best!)
• 1 1/2 c. unbleached cake flour
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ginger
• 1/8 t. cloves
• 1/4 t. cardamom
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 c. salted caramel sauce
• 1 T. milk
• powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a mixer, whip together the butter and eggs on medium-high speed until the mixture is fluffy and light brown in color (at least a few minutes).

Add in the butter and continue to mix for another minute.

Lower the mixer speed and add in bananas, applesauce, vanilla, and yogurt. Mix until smooth.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until everything is incorporated (don’t overmix).

Gently fold in 1/4 c. of the caramel sauce just until it’s swirled into the batter.

Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners and evenly distribute batter into each lined cup, filling them almost to the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let them cool for one minute in the pan before removing the muffins to a rack to cool the rest of the way.

To make the caramel glaze, whisk together the remaining 1/4 c. of caramel sauce with about 1 T. of milk and however much powdered sugar you need to make it an easily pourable consistency. It may take some time for the ingredients to incorporate, but the mixture should be smooth when you’re done.

Drizzle the glaze over the cooling muffins. Enjoy right away or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.