Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I love bananas! I was gonna say something like, ‘I’m banana for bananas,’ but decided it was too corny for even me–alas, I spared you, sort of. But I do love bananas, so please do not let my blatant neglect lead you to believe otherwise.

Last week, I bought a bunch of bananas with the intention of eating one each day. Out of 6, I had 4 left. Instead of letting them go bad, I decided to bake. Because really, what’s easier and more delicious than just about any banana recipe? So, in my quest not to be wasteful I came upon this recipe for chocolate chip banana muffins. They are divine, enjoy!

From: Michelle Pegram at Smart Savvy Living
Serves: 24 Regular-sized muffins

Ingredients

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter (softened or melted)
• 2 cups white granulated sugar
• 2 cups mashed bananas (about 4-6 bananas)
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and flour/grease or spray with non-stick spray 2 12-cup muffin tins. You can also use liners, if desired.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and chocolate chips and nuts, if using. You can add chocolate chips and nuts at the end if you want some muffins without them, but coating in flour helps to evenly distribute them and keep them from sinking to the bottom.
3. In large bowl, combine butter (you can use softened or melted – the muffins turn out great with either), sugar, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla until well blended. You can do this by hand or with a mixer.
4. Stir flour mixture into wet mixture in 2-3 batches until well blended. However, be careful to not over-mix or your muffins may have tunnels. You can do this by hand with a wooden spoon or with a hand or stand mixer.
5. Pour evenly into 2 12-cup muffin tins. I like to use a large scoop as I do for cookies for equal-sized muffins.
6. Bake for 12-17 minutes until dark golden brown – stick a toothpick in the middle and it should remain clean. If your oven has a hot spot, you may want to rotate pans halfway through.
7. Remove from oven and let cool in tins for 1-2 minutes on cooling rack.
8. Take a spoon or knife and carefully lift muffins up and set them on their sides until completely cooled. This is so the bottoms don’t steam and stick to the pan.
9. Store at room temperature in air-tight container or bag for up to 3 days or longer in fridge or freezer.

Notes
– My butter was semi-melted/softened in a microwave-safe dish.
– Using a potato masher to mush the bananas was super easy and made for quick clean up.
– To mix the wet ingredients I used a Kitchen Aid standing mixer and when I poured the dry into the wet, it was set on either ‘stir or 2’ because I wanted to be mindful not to break up the chips.
– This was the first time I used a spoon to get muffins out of the pan and it worked perfectly. This was also the first time I set muffins on their side to cool–worked like a dream. Such simple but incredibly useful tips for the future!

*This recipe can also be made into a 9×13 cake, varying muffin sizes, or 2 loaves – just alter the baking time as needed.