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.
- 2 over-ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
- ⅓ cup buttermilk (I made my own buttermilk using 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar and adding milk until the mixture reached the ⅓ cup mark; see more on how I make buttermilk here)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- In a stand mixer or large bowl, cream together the banana, sugar, egg, and vegetable oil.
- Add flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Mix well.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon batter into a muffin tin and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Gorgeous photos! And This sauce sounds incredible.
These are so good! Thank you Jessie for sharing with me today!