Saturday, April 19, 2014

The BEST Banana Muffins Ever

I don't use that title lightly. Come grab a muffin and let me tell you about it...


I grew up in a banana bread family. We don't have a lot of family recipes but we definitely do for banana bread. In fact, when my mom passed the recipe on to me she didn't even write instructions. It's just a list of ingredients and an oven temperature. I just know how to make it. 

I'm sorry mom but this post does not contain your recipe.


Oh boy, getting nervous...

Her banana bread is delicious. She makes it every year and we dutifully devour every crumb. Now that I'm older though, I can't stop thinking about how much sugar and butter is in her bread. And eggs? Why do you need eggs in banana bread? Banana is a wonderful binder! All the extra stuff takes away from the awesome sweet banana flavor that should be the focus of banana bread.

I don't know where this recipe is from. I've had it for years and it's just written on a piece of paper. If you happen to recognize this recipe or it is of your invention, please make yourself known so I can give you the credit you so totally deserve!

I first made these years ago when I hosted a monthly dinner group with high schoolers at my church. These muffins happen to be vegan (well, I don't use vegan chocolate chips, but you can and then they're solidly 100% vegan). I got a lot of weird looks, but I came to that dinner ready for glory because these are just phenomenal. I was not prepared for the reaction. A young teenager, Philip, now an adult, ate a solid dozen. They asked for these muffins repeatedly and I was happy to oblige. 


When I was uber sick a month ago and Paul had to leave on a business trip, he took me to my parents house because I couldn't quite take care of myself. My mom, of course, made banana bread. It was lovely, but it stirred up memories of these muffins and I'm really excited to share them with you today. You will not be disappointed.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
By: a genius who is out there somewhere
Yield: 16 muffins
Time: 10 minutes active / 30 minutes inactive

Ingredients
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sugar (I use organic sugar and it really makes a difference here)
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 4 ripe bananas - the riper the better
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350ยบ. Lightly grease a muffin tin or use baking cups.

In a small/medium bowl, mash the banana. Set aside.

In another small/medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the sugar and the oil. Add the mashed banana, then the chocolate chips, water and vanilla. Mix well. 

Finally, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Distribute batter evenly among 16 muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes. 


These muffins reach their peak of perfection when you serve them the next day. Letting them rest in an airtight container overnight allows them to become moist and even more flavorful. You will not be disappointed! 




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