Supreme Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

To continue the celebration of chocolate chip week, I'm posting this recipe which brings two beloved ingredients together into one delicious muffin. The original recipe for banana bread came out of a "Gold Medal" flour brand children's cookbook titled "Alpha-Bakery."  A family member had passed it down to my children and it has the most delicious recipe for banana bread. I've used this recipe several times over the years to make loaf banana bread. As a child I always loved my mother's banana muffins. They were always so moist and delicious. So I altered the banana bread recipe so it could be used to make banana muffins. Then I added chocolate chips, just to kick it up a notch. But what makes this recipe so wonderful are two little secrets I'll share with you today.
    
First of all, when it comes to bananas for baking my motto is "the blacker the better." The blacker the banana the moister your muffin will be. So, let your bananas get as black as possible- to the point where when you start peeling it, the banana literally falls apart into your bowl. I promise that if your bananas are not as described, your muffins will not turn out as good. The second secret is that I use applesauce in place of oil in this recipe (I learned this trick from my mother-in-law, who did so to make a low fat version of a boxed muffin mix and I tried it and it made these muffins even more fabulous). Doing so not only adds even more moisture to the muffins but also takes the heaviness out of the batter and cuts out several fat grams and calories. The best part is, you'll never know. I promise this muffin does not taste lower in fat.

Recipe:

3/4 cup of sugar
3 large bananas (black)
1/2 cup plain applesauce
2 eggs
2 cups of Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pure vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, mash bananas with a spatula or wooden spoon. This will be rather easy since the bananas are already extremely mushy. Try to mash as many lumps out as possible to achieve a smooth banana batter.

Mix sugar, applesauce and eggs into the bananas with a spatula or wooden spoon. Stir in the remaining ingredients saving the chocolate chips for last.

Spoon batter into the cupcake liners, filling 2/3 of the way full (I use a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop- less mess).

Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean, approximately 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins from the pan.

This recipe makes 15-16 muffins.
These muffins are great alonside a home cooked meal and also make a delicious dessert if served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I hope you enjoy.
Happy baking!