Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Three overripe bananas in the kitchen had been staring at me for days. But with so many uses to choose from – banana bread (but no loaf pan at the time), banana muffins, banana cupcakes – it took me a couple days to settle on a recipe. Even though someone wasn’t thrilled with any of the ideas, those bananas had to go, and not in the trash.

I made a few adjustments to the original recipe, using whole-wheat flour for 1/3 of the total flour, mixing brown and white sugar and replacing some of the butter with chunky peanut butter. True to form, I almost forgot the chocolate chips after I had spent a few painstaking minutes chopping them with a steak knife, but managed to stir them directly into the muffin cups at the last second.

The muffins weren’t quite as light and crumbly as those you’d get at a bakery. I’ll have to do more investigating into baking powder vs. baking soda – perhaps these could’ve used some of the latter. But the flavors? Oh, they were spot on. My super palate claims that you first taste the bananas, then a healthy hint of peanut butter before you’re wooed by the gooey sweetness of the chocolate chips. If you don’t eat these right away, I definitely recommend throwing them in the toaster oven or microwave oven before eating.

As for that someone? He definitely enjoyed his fair share.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar plus more for topping

1/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large or 3 medium)

1 large egg

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth, I used chunky)

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Coat muffin cups and surface with butter, spray with nonstick cooking spray or line with foil muffin liners.

3. Mix all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, brown and white sugars, baking powder and salt in large bowl.

4. Mix bananas, egg, melted butter, peanut butter and milk in medium bowl.

5. Stir banana mixture into dry ingredients just until blended (be careful not to over-mix). Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. You should be able to fit everything into 12 muffin cups.

7. Bake muffins until tops are pale golden and tester inserted into center comes out with some melted chocolate attached but no crumbs, about 32 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack; cool.

More delicious recipes from around the web:

• Baked: New Frontiers in Baking’s Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins at Sweetnicks

• Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting at I Tinkle Sprinkles