Yield: 18 muffins, standard size
Chef Rhonda Stewart from Johnson & Wales University made these muffins on WBTV a few weeks back. She was gracious enough to share the recipe with us here. Check out the video below, then have at it! Note: This recipe can be made with or without eggs. Use one medium banana per egg as a replacement.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium-sized ripe bananas (OR 2 eggs)
- 2 medium-sized ripe bananas
- ½ cup (4 oz) vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup (2.75 oz) buttermilk (or dairy-free milk + 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice or vinegar)
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
- 1-2/3 cups (12 oz) Granulated sugar
- 2-2/3 cups (11 oz.) All-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (1.5 oz.) Cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. Baking soda
- ½ tsp. Salt
- 1 cup (7 oz.) Chocolate chips (can be vegan)
Method of Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas. When using eggs, whisk the eggs into the mashed bananas. Stir in oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and granulated sugar. Mix until well blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the bread flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add these mixed dry ingredients to the banana mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Prepare two 12-count muffin pans with pan spray. Divide batter into 18 muffin cups.
- Bake muffins until they spring back when touched, or a toothpick comes out clean which is usually about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.
Notes:
This recipe is so versatile!
- If you want the traditional “banana bread” shape, then you can just bake the batter in a loaf pan. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake it for a longer amount of time (at least 30 minutes).
- Vegan version: replace eggs with bananas (1 egg = 1 banana) and replace buttermilk with a non-dairy milk and 1 Tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice.
- Don’t like chocolate? Increase flour to 3 cups and omit cocoa powder.
- REALLY don’t like chocolate? Replace the chocolate chips with your favorite nut like walnuts or pecans.
- What if your bananas are ripe but you don’t have time for making muffins now? Just peel and freeze your ripe bananas until you are ready to bake. Let them thaw for an hour, or pop them in the microwave for a few seconds before mashing.