Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Has this been overdone?

 Bananas. Chocolate chips. Muffiny deliciousness. Blah, blah, blah. Everyone’s eaten a banana chocolate chip muffin. It’s a staple in muffin-dom. But you know what? I had bananas on my counter. I had chocolate chips in my freezer. I was hungry. It all worked out.

And honestly, I’m not much of a muffin person. My attitude towards them has always been kind of “eh.” But lately, I’ve been evolving. I made roasted peach muffins, and then I tried both an apple cinnamon muffin AND zucchini bread in the same week. Both are now on my to-bake list. I think I’m becoming a real grown-up.

Although, as long as I’m being honest – I am definitely a believer that not much separates a muffin from a cupcake. And while muffins may not be my cup of tea, cupcakes and me have been BFF for a long time. This article did a nice lil’ comparison of the two, and they concluded (much like I suspected) that the major difference between a muffin and a cupcake is really just the sugar (read: frosting). As a general rule, “real” cakes have more fat, sugar, and eggs than a muffin might, but for those of us who just like to THINK we know as much as someone who went to pastry school, the line is a little blurry. Fortunately, I don’t really care what it’s called, as long as it tastes good. And these – we’ll call them muffins – taste pretty darn delicious.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 12 1x

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Ingredients

• 2 over-ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1–1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (I made my own buttermilk using 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar and adding milk until the mixture reached the 1/3 cup mark; see more on how I make buttermilk here)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

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Instructions

1. In a stand mixer or large bowl, cream together the banana, sugar, egg, and vegetable oil.
2. Add flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Mix well.
3. Make your buttermilk (or pour premade) into a large glass measuring cup. Add the baking soda and the baking powder to the buttermilk and stir. The vinegar in the buttermilk will react with the rising agents to form a thick foam.
4. Add the buttermilk-foam mixture to the batter along with the vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Be careful not to overmix, though, because mixing too much can give the batter a slightly rubbery texture. Mix everything until it is just combined to ensure a light, moist muffin.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Spoon batter into a muffin tin and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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