Chocolate Banana Muffins

Overripe bananas find another happy home nestled in these super-moist, chocolatey muffins. These muffins teeter between breakfast and dessert thanks to the addition of semisweet chocolate chips. For an extra special treat, warm halved muffins in a skillet with a pat of butter and sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt. A swipe of cream cheese wouldn’t hurt either. Freeze overripe bananas peeled in order to make baking with them even easier. Let them thaw first and then stir any liquid back in before measuring the mash.

Makes: 12 servings
Time to cook: 45 minutes

Ingredients

· 1½ cups/192 grams all-purpose flour

· ½ cup/47 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder

· ¾ teaspoon baking powder

· ½ teaspoon baking soda

· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

· ¾ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

· ½ packed cup/110 grams dark brown sugar

·  ½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar

· 2 large eggs

· ½ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil

· 3 very ripe medium bananas, mashed (about 1½ cups)

· ¼ cup sour cream

· 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

· ⅓ cup/58 grams semisweet chocolate chips

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, oil, bananas, sour cream and vanilla extract.

4. Then add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips and, using a flexible spatula, fold them into the wet ingredients by gently scooping some of the mixture from the bottom and folding it over the dry ingredients on top. Rotate the bowl and repeat until no streaks are visible. Do not overmix.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the liners. Adjust the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. (Make sure you’ve got moist crumbs instead of melted chocolate on the toothpick.) Let muffins cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

6. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one month. To reheat, wrap frozen muffins in foil and bake at 350 degrees until warm, about 10 minutes.

Nutrition per serving
280 calories; 13 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 4 grams protein; 22 grams sugar; 211 milligrams sodium

Recipe by Samantha Seneviratne, NY Times Cooking  

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