On Friday, there was a sign next to a plate of overripe bananas that said, “For Banana Bread” on it. I wasn’t sure if it was a suggestion, or a claim, so I added my own post-it saying if someone was looking for offers that I could take care of it, and the original writer found me to say, “That would be wonderful.”
However, since I only have one loaf pan, I opted to turn these aged fruits into muffins! I figured it would also help ensure more people would be able to enjoy them without fear of slicing uneven pieces and yielding less servings. Or maybe that’s just my irrational fear.
After a quick search online, I decided this recipe from Food.com would be a great base. Due to some personal preferences, I decided to modify it and beef them up a bit.
CHOCOLATE CHIP & WALNUT BANANA MUFFINS – yields 18 muffins
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 overripe bananas – mashed
- 2+1/4 cups AP flour
- 1+1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup toasted walnut pieces
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I had 1 cup leftover from something else, no need to save the extra 1/4!)
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 18 muffin tins with papers.
Cream together the sugar and butter. You can use brown sugar for this, if you like, but I figured there’d be enough extra moisture from all the bananas so I opted not to. While that’s going, whisk your dry ingredients – flour, salt, baking soda- together in a medium-sized bowl.
Add the eggs and vanilla into the sugar/butter mixture, and beat until somewhat incorporated. You’ll likely need to scrape down the sides of the bowl midway through.
Using the dry-wet-dry method, you’ll first add half of your dry ingredients into the bowl and mix until almost incorporated, leaving a bit of flour dust still visible. Then add in your bananas, and mix thoroughly. Next, add the last portion of the flour mixture to soak up some of that excess moisture from the bananas, but as before don’t mix it completely as there’s one more step.
Finally, you’ll add in the toasted walnuts (I usually pop them on a baking tray in the oven to toast while it preheats) and the chocolate chips and stir them into the batter. I think everything incorporates more evenly when you fold them in by hand, but you can also use the mixer.
When the batter is ready, fill your pre-lined muffin tins about 3/4 of the way each. Don’t fill them all the way to the top, as these will rise during the baking process. Then, bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick slides out clean and they have achieved a bit of golden coloring.
Let them cool in the tins for a bit before removing them to baking racks to cool the rest of the way. Then serve to hungry coworkers!
These will earn a 3 on the Evil Rating Scale, as they’re obviously healthy what with all the bananas and walnuts in there 😛
My Baking Empire 