Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

When I have a craving for a baked dessert it’s usually not a muffin that pops into mind.  I prefer a perfectly baked chocolate chip cookie or a berry tart but there’s just something about banana nut muffins with chocolate chips that calls to me.  Maybe it’s the moistness of the bananas in the muffin, or it could be the textural and flavor combination of toasted walnuts and chocolate.  Whatever it is, these muffins don’t get old!

The recipe I used is from allrecipes.com with a few tweaks here and there.  I figured less sugar would be just fine since chocolate chips were going into the mix, and I added some chopped walnuts on top of each muffin before sending them off to bake.  Oh, and a word of advice.  Let them cool completely before eating.  The Wuz and I couldn’t wait to eat them once they were done but this was not a good idea.  They were just too hot and didn’t taste quite right.  So for all of you who might do what we did: be patient, and it’ll be worth the wait!

Makes about 10 muffins

3 to 4 ripe bananas

1/3 cup white sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

¾ cup toasted walnuts, chopped

½ cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Line muffin tin with muffin cups, or lightly grease muffin tin.

2. Mash bananas using a fork.

3. Mix sugar, oil, and egg until goopy and light yellow.  Add in mashed bananas, walnuts, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips.

4. Add flour, salt, and baking soda.  Mix well.

5. Spoon mixture into muffin tin.

6. Bake (about 20 minutes) until a toothpick comes out clean.