banana chocolate chip muffins

Bananas are good for health. They are full of potassium and help to stave off hunger.

I must admit that all these years, I have avoided eating bananas because of the belief that it is fattening.

Having said this, I still buy a whole bunch of bananas whenever I am at the supermarket. I use bananas to bake cakes, muffins, bread, etc. Although I have a bottle of banana essence in the refrigerator, nothing beats the smell of muffins / cakes / bread made using real bananas being baked in the oven. The secret is to use over-ripe bananas as they are softer and sweeter.

When I made banana chocolate chip muffins recently, I was so tempted to stand next to the oven while the muffins were baking. They were so aromatic!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
275g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
50g semi-sweet chocolate chips
450g over-ripe bananas (peeled and mashed)
100g brown sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
50ml low-fat milk
75g butter (melted)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Line the muffin pans with paper muffin cases. This recipe makes 12 medium-sized muffins.

3. Sieve the ground cinnamon, plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

4. Mash the peeled bananas in a medium bowl using a fork. Add the brown sugar, beaten egg, milk and melted butter. Mix well.

5. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture. Using a spatula, mix all the ingredients together until the flour is incorporated into the banana mixture. Do not over-mix. The batter will be lumpy.

6. Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter into the paper muffin cases and fill to 3/4 full.

7. Bake at 180 degrees for 18 minutes to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

8. Let the muffins cool thoroughly before storing them in an air-tight container.