Recipe: Chocolate Banana WOW Muffins

I don't know what it is about these last few weeks of pregnancy but I have been craving baked goods like nobody's business.  I'm talking muffins, cakes, cupcakes.  Is there chocolate in the recipe?  Even better.  This may not sound odd to you - a pregnant woman craving cake is certainly no anomaly - but for me, this entire pregnancy thus far has been the exact opposite.  Cake?  No thank you.  I'll take strawberries instead.  A muffin?  Nope, I'll just have eggs for breakfast.  So this sudden switch is quite jarring.  And the scale is proving it.  But I can't. Stop. Baking. Or. Eating.

One of my favorite discoveries during this baking frenzy has been, hands down, these amazing Chocolate Banana Muffins.  I've dubbed them Chocolate Banana "WOW" Muffins because that's how it feels when I eat them.  The first dozen I made, I literally let my husband have one of them.  The rest I happily and greedily ate all by myself.  This past weekend I made another batch and decided to share...with the neighbors down the street.  You see, the weekend before, Dan and I were on a walk and saw a couple with a brand new baby a few doors down from us.  Of course I had to stop and ask how old their baby was and she was a fresh one-week old!  The four of us ended up chatting for a bit and turns out our neighbor delivered at the same hospital I'm delivering at and, believe it or not, has the same doctor as me!  This is a big coincidence, especially in LA.  It was great meeting them and surprising that we hadn't seen them around before.  So when I had some overripe bananas in the kitchen on Friday and the urge to bake more muffins, I thought it'd be nice to bring some down to them.  I hope the muffins came in handy when they needed a quick breakfast or snack.  The half dozen I kept for myself? Those are long gone...

Chocolate Banana WOW Muffins

makes 12 muffins

      3 or 4 large, overripe bananas
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil*
1 cup all-purpose flour*
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping

*Healthy Alternative:

(courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction)

Oil alternative: 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

Flour alternative: 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour & 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
• Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
• In a large bowl mash the bananas. Mash them well!  Use this process as a stress reliever and make sure there are no large lumps.
• Stir the sugar, egg and oil in with your well-mashed bananas.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder. 
• To avoid large cocoa chunks, SIFT dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
• Lightly mix to combine.  
• Fold in chocolate chips.
• The batter is a little chunky. This is a good thing!  Do not overmix.
• Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups, filling them all the way to the top.  
• Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top of muffins.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  
• Allow muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Enjoy!  And try to share. But don't feel too badly if you want them all for yourself.