DISH OF THE WEEK: Dough’s Banana Chocolate Muffin at BIRCH COFFEE

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

If you’d asked me to tell you about Dough, the growing New York business from chef Fany Gerson, I would have told you that they make the absolute best doughnuts in the city. Big, yeasty, and inventive – they’re everything you want a doughnut to be.

But if you asked me to talk more about their food, I would have looked at you with confusion. What else could Dough possibly do?

Well, when I started going to the new Birch Coffee in the Financial District, I discovered the wonders of Dough’s muffins. I didn’t even know they made muffins (and it is not advertised on the Dough website). My guess is they make these just for wholesale customers like the small coffee chain.

At Birch they offer both a Blueberry Muffin and a Banana Chocolate muffin. And I must tell you, I have become addicted to these things. The blueberry is good and all, but I rarely get past the words banana and chocolate.

One of the great things about these muffins is that they are not too sweet. The carb bomb is dense with butter, but flaky enough to make you worry about losing large crumbs from the muffin. Banana makes it moist and savory while every once in a while there is a crunch from walnuts and a sweet surprise from the chocolate chips.

I’m not usually one to dedicate a dish of the week to a muffin, but this thing is surprisingly delicious. And in many ways, a hidden little secret that Dough doesn’t seem to want anyone to know about. Sorry, but the secret’s now out.