Earl Grey Banana Muffins

I've been dying to try this recipe for weeks now, adapted from Healthy-Delicious' Banana Bread . After the success of the chai muffin recipe (and I have designs for a lemon chamomile muffin) I have been thinking about baking with tea. Well the Earl Grey was subtle if not undetectable in this muffin. If anything it added to the richness of the banana rather than standing on it's own.

The sour cream (I hate sour cream on it's own) made the recipe incredibly moist. I've used yogurt in muffins before and it made them kind of wimpy and bland, but this addition was a success.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Water (Boiling)
5 bags of Earl Grey tea
1/4 cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Butter- 1 stick
1 cup fat free Sour Cream
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
2-1/4 cups all purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe Bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons Turbinado Sugar (Sugar in the Raw) for the tops

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 if you are making loafs like in original recipe, or 400 if you are making muffins like I did.
2. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the tea bags. Allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes, then discard the tea bags. Add the sugars and butter and return the pan to the heat. Cook until the butter and sugars have melted into a thick syrup, about 2 minutes. Put in fridge to cool.
3. Combine the sour cream and baking soda in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the cooled tea syrup and the eggs.
5. Fold in the mashed bananas.
6. Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl and fold gently into wet ingredients until just combined.
6. Pour the batter into giant muffin tins or 2 loaf pans. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar.
7. For loaf pans bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes on 350 and for muffins bake for about 25-30 mins on 400, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before slicing.