Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hands down, best recipe I've found to date for using up over-ripe bananas. These muffins should thank their lucky stars that they even 'came to be', my husband almost threw away my precious bananas a couple of times. They were beyond spotted, almost black. I kept telling him I was going to use them for something, but then a couple days later, there they sat. Wanting to try something new, instead of baking my usual loaf, I flipped through the Baked cookbook and spotted a recipe that looked delicious. Only the recipe called for instant espresso powder and, while I'm sure I would have liked the coffee flavor, I'm certain my kids would not.

These muffins are nice and moist and the banana flavor is very distinct. The addition of chocolate chips never hurt either. I also sprinkled a little bit of brown sugar on the tops to create a nice crispy crust, and used dark brown sugar instead of light just because I felt like it. 

If you have some ripe bananas sitting around your house and you're looking for something to bake, this recipe will not disappoint.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins 

(adapted from Baked)

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 medium)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (I used dark)

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. instant espresso powder (I omitted)

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used minis)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper liners (or spray with non stick cooking spray).

In medium bowl stir together bananas, sugars, melted butter, milk and egg. In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, instant espresso powder (if using), baking soda and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full. Sprinkle with brown sugar and few extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake in center of oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into centre of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing them from pan. Allow to continue cooling on cooling rack.