I thought I had the banana muffin market cornered, but these are just as good as mine and come in mini form! The recipe for these mini banana chocolate chip muffins had unusual instructions, and specific directions, and I obeyed all with success. I changed a few things in the recipe, and got great results: a moist, flavorful, fun mini muffin, popular with all who tasted.
I began with the bananas.
I mashed them thoroughly, then added them to the bowl with the dry ingredients: flour (whole wheat white/wheat germ combo instead of all purpose and wheat), oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
And then, in a baking instruction I’ve never seen before, I put that bowl onto my stand mixer and beat at low speed. Weird, right?
Skipping the walnuts, I added the buttermilk, eggs, oil, and brown sugar.
I beat on low speed until well mixed, then added the vanilla. I used vanilla bean paste instead of extract, as is my whim these days.
Once that was thoroughly blended in, I used my large cookie scoop to get the batter into the tins. The recipe said to use an ice cream scoop, but our ice cream scoop is huge!
Once the batter was evenly divided (with enough left over for a large mini loaf, which seems like a contradiction in terms), I was supposed to add dark chocolate chips to the top of each one. Instead I did half with semi sweet, half with peanut butter, and used both for the mini-large-mini loaf.
I baked for 11 minutes, but they were still a little squishy inside. I find this happens with banana-based baked goods, it’s harder to tell when they’re done because the banana makes them so moist (squishy).
It was closer to 15 minutes when the muffins were done, and another 5 minutes for the loaf. The smell was delightful.
I had a few scary moments when I thought they weren’t going to come out of the pan without falling apart, but a little delicate work with a knife solved that problem, and out they came, whole and perfect, if somewhat misshapen from my efforts to cram so much batter into each tiny cup.
I tasted one that night, but it was the next morning when the flavor really kicked in. Banana, like pumpkin, sometimes needs a little time to come to its full potential in a baked good.
The next morning, I did a quick photo shoot before heading off to work.
Juliet always likes to get in on the action.
I brought a bunch of these to work and they went quickly. The banana flavor was a great base, the oats added a bit of substance without distracting, and the small touches of peanut butter or chocolate were just perfect without being overbearing. A lovely breakfast, an excellent post-lunch snack, and apparently a big help with sagging afternoon energy, according to my co-workers. Mostly though, they’re just delicious.
MINI BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS RECIPE (original)
My version of Mini Banana Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter Chip Muffins (adapted from A Lo And Behold Life)
1 2/3 cups whole wheat white flour
2/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon peanut butter chips
directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray or line a mini muffin pan. I had extra batter so I also sprayed an individual mini loaf pan.
Mash the bananas. If you only have large ones, one should be enough.
In a stand mixer, beat together the flour, wheat germ, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and mashed bananas on low speed. It seems weird, but do it.
Add in the brown sugar, oil, eggs, and buttermilk. Beat on low to medium speed until well combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix again.
Using a large cookie scoop, scoop the batter into your mini muffin tins. I filled them up pretty high but they’d probably look more uniform if you fill them about 3/4 of the way up. Top half with semi sweet chocolate chips and half with peanut butter chips. Pour any leftover batter into a mini loaf pan and add chips, whichever kind you prefer (or both).
Bake for 10-15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (The mini loaf will take at least another 5 minutes.) Let cool in the pan for a couple of minutes and then move to a wire rack.
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