Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Baby Girl was home with me one day when her school was closed for a teacher in-service. We had bananas ripening on the counter and she'd been watching too much TV while I was working, so we took a baking break. My friend Mary Ellen had recommended these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and I couldn't wait to try them.

The ones in this picture are from the second time I made this recipe. The first time (with Baby Girl) I cooked them for 22 minutes and they were very dark and a little more done than I wanted. I have a new oven (and no oven thermometer) and I'm pretty sure the oven runs hot. The second time I made a few substitutions because I didn't have all the ingredients and cooked them for 20 minutes instead and they were perfect. I loved the combo of the sour cream and vanilla yogurt. Definitely use mini chips - they aren't as heavy as a regular chip so they don't sink to the bottom of the batter. There was a nice, even distribution of chips in these.

Baby Girl positively loves these. She asks for one for breakfast every morning and, because she's a bit crazy, she eats them cold straight from the freezer. When I can sneak one away from her, I like to microwave them to get the chill off and then toast them up a bit. I can't wait for more bananas to over ripen so I can make more.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Slightly modified from Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations
Makes 16 muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium-large over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt, sour cream and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the bananas and chocolate chips.

Line muffin cups with paper wrappers or spray with cooking spray. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cups two-thirds full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine were perfect at 20 minutes) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins from the tins to a cooling rack.