Recipe: Yummy Banana Muffins

I always try to have fresh bananas in the house for the kids to snack on.  That means that I often end up with over-ripe bananas begging to be used.  They usually inspire me to bake banana bread, or cheater banana ice cream, and this time banana chocolate chip muffins.  I try different recipes, hoping to find "the one" - which is yummy, nutritious and easy to make.  For me, easy to make means that it uses ingredients I tend to have on hand and is an oil rather than butter based recipe.  Thawing out the butter to room temp is generally more fore-planning than I am willing to put into my banana muffin cravings.  So far, this recipe is the winner, it uses oil instead of butter, and the best part is I don't have to use any electric machines - so the cleanup is simple for those weeknights when the over-ripe bananas are just begging to be put to use.   Do you have a great banana muffin recipe to share?  Like I said, I always like trying new ones!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or you could forgo the whole wheat and just use a total of 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups smashed bananas (about 4 to 6 bananas)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cups chocolate chips or walnuts

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly brush a 12-muffin tin with butter and set aside.  I find this recipe makes 16 muffins, so I need to use 2 muffin tins which I line with muffin tin paper liners.

• Whisk the flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Whisk the banana, oil, milk, eggs, salt, and vanilla in a large measuring cup with a spout or another bowl.
• Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the center; then stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened but still lumpy. Do not over mix the batter or your muffins will come out dense. Gently stir in the chocolate chips (or nuts). Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin(s), filling each cup about 3/4 full (I find using an ice-cream scoop helps with even batter distribution).

• Put the muffins in the oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking. (Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin to check if it is done. Toothpick should come out clean). Cool muffins in the pan on a rack for a couple minutes. Turn the muffins out of the pan and cool on the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Once completely cool store in an air tight container for up to 2-3 days.