Chocolate Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
I finally had two overly ripe bananas.
That never happens to me. I magically buy only what I need and will use up in a week. No more. No less. That means I never get the joy and unbridled pleasure of making banana bread/muffins/cake/general awesome.
Then as if by magic, the bananas in my general vicinity have disappeared. One store had zero bananas. The other one had the greenest bananas you’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t be eating them until next month. It’s bizarre.
My urge to make these muffins came one [really] late evening. I spent the earlier part of the night at The Box Social, a new drinking parlour, that specializes in craft cocktails and a few super good sandwiches and small bites. I was blissfully happy after a drink or three and their special panino–fig compote, creamed horseradish, caramelized onion, green apple & bleu cheese. Uh…yum. The flavor combination was wild, and I loved every single bite.
When I came home those super ripe bananas were calling to me. I needed to use them. I didn’t want fruit flies to take over the house. I also wanted muffins. I hadn’t had muffins in a long, long time. I had a bag of carob chips I wanted to use, so it happened. The stars aligned and these cute little muffins were made.
Inspiration: Skinny Taste
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup carob [or chocolate] chips
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 325ΒΊ. Line a muffin tin with liners or spray generously with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, banana, and applesauce. Mix until smooth and thick.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently until incorporated.
- Fold in the chips.
- Batter will be thick. Spoon into the 12 wells of the muffin tin as equally as possible.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. The tops will be set and a toothpick will come clean.
- Cool completely before eating.
Those ARE cute muffins. And they sound delish–but I never have ripe bananas on hand either. I was buying ridiculous amounts so I could freeze them when they got ripe enough…but I think I used those up months ago. Why is it so hard to keep bananas around??
This photo is a total example of why I miss daylight. These look so much better on a weekend afternoon than on a weeknight. Le sigh.
Bananas are totally mysterious. One of the most mysterious fruits around.
I think I just completely gave up–I’ve been using my camera phone for half my pictures, I figure the final image is going to look about the same anyway. Or maybe it’s just an excuse for not walking upstairs to get my camera when all I want to do is eat right away π
Our bananas are always overripe. π We use ’em in smoothies, and so we purposely wait for them to turn brown.