Creamy Mango Banana Muffins

       Who doesn’t love a classic recipe like banana muffins? Well, if you're a fan of traditional banana muffins, then I think you might just fall in love with this recipe. Since using my handy coring tool for this recipe last week, I seem to have become a coring addict.   

So this time, I decided to take a yummy banana muffin and stuff it with a lusciously thick, creamy mango-coconut filling.  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

You'll need...

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

6 large bananas, very ripe

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup melted butter

Makes 24 Muffins

       Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare two muffin tins by greasing each cup (or you can use cupcake liners, if you prefer).

       In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside until needed.

 

  Peel and mash the bananas.  Keep mashing them until they are mushy and no longer solid.In a medium mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas, sugar, egg, and butter.  Mix thoroughly.

      

    Stir dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.  *Important tip: don’t over stir!  For best results, be sure to mix the flour into the creamed mixture until just combined and the flour is no longer visible.  Over-mixing can cause the muffins to be less moist.

       Spoon the batter into the muffin tins until they are about ¾ full.  Place in the oven to bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  *Tip, if your oven tends to bake food unevenly, put a cookie sheet under the muffin tins to help distribute the heat and keep the bottoms from getting too brown.

      

    Once the muffins have finished baking, take them out of the oven and let them cool in the tins for about three minutes before transferring the muffins to a cooling rack.

       Once your muffins have fully cooled, it's time to break out the coring tool.  This tool is so much more fun to use than a knife!  Oh, and it's definitely easier, too.  But you can use a knife if that's all you have on hand.  Cut a hole the size of a quarter in the center of the muffins, only going down about 1/4 of an inch deep.  Then using a knife, press the muffin center to the sides so you have an empty cone shape in the middle to put the filling in.  Once you have cored out all the muffins, you can start on the cream.

 Mango  Coconut Cream

12oz cream cheese

1 cup freshly cut mango

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange flavor

1 tsp salt

2 ¾  powdered sugar

4 tbsp tapioca starch

 1/2 Cup coconut Shreds -optional-

         In a bowl, cream together cream cheese and mango. Whip in one cup of the powdered sugar, then add the extracts, salt, and the remaining powdered sugar.  Whip in the tapioca starch then transfer to a medium saucepan.

   Stir mixture over medium-low heat until it begins to heat.  Gradually turn the heat up until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens into a custardy texture.  Remove from heat and allow to cool before filling the muffins.

       Once the filling has cooled, Stir in 1/2 cup of optional coconut then place into an icing bag with a tip or a gallon Ziploc bag with the corner cut out.

        Stick the tip into the center of the muffin and fill the center.  Continue squeezing and move the tip up until you fill the center all the way to the top.  Repeat this process until all of the muffins are filled. 

       Serve and enjoy!