Sometimes you just have to let a muffin be a muffin. I like healthified foods as much as anyone else, but I know this. If you give me a chocolate chip muffin and I know it's just a chocolate chip muffin I will eat it. Actually, I might even eat only half. I will enjoy that chocolate chip muffin and call it what it is - a chocolate chip muffin. But if you give me a chocolate chip muffin and tell me it's gluten-free or vegan or low sugar, or low-fat so something like that I will still eat that muffin. And then I will have another. Any maybe even another one before the day is over - because, heck, its low sugar, or grain-free or something, something else and so I can have as much as I want, right?
This banana chocolate chip muffin is a statement. It is not trying to solve your health and diet problems. No it is just muffin. Eat the muffin. Enjoy the muffin. Then walk away. Call it what it is. Be happy with it. And get on with your life.
Really. Just a straight up muffin. No-nonsense. Not healthified silliness. Do you really need a chocolate chip muffin that is good for you? Do any of use need a batch of muffins that are so healthy we could eat the whole batch without any guilt.
I'm thinking not.
So I say that sometimes it is okay to just make a bunch of muffins for no other reason other than you want to make them. And eat them of course.
These muffins are made with all-purpose wheat flour and if I am being totally truthful - because I always am - the healthiest part of these muffins is that I used about 50% whole wheat flour vs. just plain white all-purpose flour. It wasn't intentional. But because the whole wheat flour container was half empty and my darling husband thought he would help me out and filled it with all-purpose white flour. So there is that. And I suppose that teensy bit of additional fiber makes them slightly better than if they had been made with all white flour. But I'm guessing the impact is negligible. Anyway the point is, there is also white sugar and eggs and butter and chocolate in these muffins. And they are really good. Simple. And basic. And fool-proof. And you will be happy after just one.
And then I made them fancy - because they are - and put them in these pretty little cupcake liners. Because I didn't want them to look ordinary. Because really they are quite possibly the best little muffins ever.
Straight Up Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour or part whole wheat, part white all purpose
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas about 2 large
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup milk
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare muffin tin with paper liners
- Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl - flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Mash banana (Tip - I always put the bananas into a zip top plastic bag and then give it to one of the kids to squeeze until nice and squished. Then I just squeeze the bag contents into my batter and throw away the bag. No mess.)
- Melt butter in a medium sized glass bowl. Add mashed banana, milk and one large egg. Whisk together until creamy.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently stir in chocolate chips.
- Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when the muffins are golden brown and a tooth pick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack - but eat them while they are still warm.
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