Mini Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins

Alright, confession time. I want you to walk into your kitchen right now and take a look on the counter. Are there bananas there that are past their prime? If the answer is no, first, stop lying, and now I need you to look in your freezer and see how many bags of frozen bananas you have. You know, those bananas that were starting to go bad, so you decided to freeze them because “someday” you were going to bake “something” with them.

Look, there is no shame in either scenario, friends. As moms, we know how important it is not to waste money, right? We want to believe that we will eventually have the time to make homemade goodies for our children but somehow forget about those darn bananas. It happens to the best of us. I am 100% guilty of over buying bananas (because they are about the cheapest fruit you can get) and then watching in horror as they slowly slip into the past their prime stage. I am also guilty of putting said bananas into my freezer with the best of intentions of baking with them…someday.

Well, lucky you, today is that day! I’ve got a recipe for you that’s so yummy, satisfying, and healthy, you may never have extra bananas laying around or clogging your freezer ever again! I will even go a step further and say you will buy EXTRA bananas, just to let them over ripen to make these muffins! I found this recipe at least 2 years ago, in my pursuit to get Eva off those awful store bought mini muffins. You know the ones…bright, colorful, and full of sugar, preservatives, dyes, and who knows what else. It makes my skin crawl just to think about it.

Now I knew I would have to find muffins that were just as appealing without having to add all that extra garbage. At the ripe old age of 5, Eva had very discerning taste buds. Plus, what kid doesn’t want the most colorful, fun food they can find, right? When I found this recipe, I knew it wouldn’t have the bright colors but my hope was that the addition of chocolate chips would distract her from that fact. And, thankfully, it worked!

I’ll be honest, the first time I made them I added extra chocolate chips in hopes of an easier transition. However, as time has gone on, I don’t even have to mix the chocolate chips into the batter anymore. I simply sprinkle a few on top of the muffins and it is enough to satisfy her. Whew! She will ask for these muffins almost weekly and would eat them all in a day or two if I would let her. So what’s so great about them?

Well, here are just a few of the things that I love about this recipe:

It uses butter rather than oil.
It can all be made in one bowl.
Fresh or frozen (thawed) bananas both work equally well.
It makes a lot of muffins at once!
It is so quick and easy!

As with all recipes I find, I tweaked this one a bit from its original version to better suit our tastes and needs. For instance, instead of using just all-purpose flour, I instead use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat. Also, I added cinnamon and a touch of salt to the original recipe and that really just enhanced the flavors that much more! I encourage you to make it your own as well! Isn’t that part of the fun of baking and cooking? Making it your own?

So without further ado, I hope you will give this recipe a try and enjoy is as much as we do!

Mini Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour (I like to use ½ cup each of all-purpose and whole wheat flour)
1 large egg
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp vanilla
2 overripe bananas (fresh or frozen but thawed)
Up to ½ cup of mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin pan generously with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, melt the butter and let cool slightly. Whisk in the sugar then the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Fold in the bananas and mash well until combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips or sprinkle on top of each muffin prior to baking.

Fill each prepared muffin cup almost full with batter using a small cookie scoop.

4. Bake muffins for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

That is it! In less time than it takes to run to the store to buy the blech muffins, you can have delicious, healthy muffins you and your children will love! A side note, while the recipe says to grease a 24-cup muffin tin, I rarely get less than 36 muffins, so plan accordingly!

Well friends, I am excited to share this recipe with you and I’m even more excited to think that some of you may actually get some freezer space back! You knew there was a reason you kept all those bananas, and now you have it! Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions or comments!