Mini Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins - an easy treat

My most lovely sister got me a cookbook for my birthday - Muffins: Sweet and Savory Comfort Foods - and it's full of delightful treats.  I had a few old bananas so I decided to start with something familiar - Chocolate Chip Banana muffins. I make banana bread pretty often (because it's oh so delicious), but I thought this might be a nice way to mix it up.  The recipe calls for 5-6 bananas and I only had 3 so I did a half recipe and made mini muffins - though it made 2 dozen muffins, plus I still have a bunch of batter in my fridge - more than double the expected yield. Ah well - I'll always take more of these tasty treats!

The muffins I had right out of the oven were even more delicious because the big chocolate chips I used seem to have floated to the middle of most of them, creating a nice melted chocolate surprise in that first bite.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (from Muffins: Sweet and Savory Comfort Foods, written by Cyndi Duncan and George Patrick)
Makes 12 Muffins or 24+ Mini Muffins


Ingredients: 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2 eggs - lightly beaten, 5 to 6 ripe bananas - mashed, 2 cups flour, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t baking powder, 3/4 t baking soda, 3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional, I omitted these), 3/4 cup chocolate chips - mini if you prefer.


Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease muffin cups. In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add the lightly beaten eggs and the mashed bananas. Mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Stir in the creamed mixture just until moistened.  Fold in nuts and chocolate chips.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes for full size muffins, 10-15 for mini. Muffins should be golden brown.