banana chocolate chip muffins

I made these banana chocolate chip muffins at 9 am one morning and by noon, I had an empty platter – all 12 were eaten! That’s what happens with 4 growing boys in the house.

Why banana chocolate chip muffins

1. They are nutritious, made with bananas, apple sauce, wheat flour and a natural sweetener like maple syrup (no processed white flour or sugar).
2. They are a great way to use up older bananas and apples!!!

Making applesauce (not mandatory for recipe)

This recipe uses applesauce to help moisten and sweeten the muffins.

Because I was trying to use up apples, I quickly made my own applesauce however natural, unsweetened store bought applesauce will work. You can substitute with plain greek yogurt as well.

If you’re interested in making the applesauce, I simply cored and cut about 8 honey crisp and gala apples (I left the skin on for extra nutrients) and added them to a pot. I put about 1/2 cup of water in the pot and simmered for about 15-20 minutes until apples were soft.

I turned off the stove and added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the pot. Then I added the cooked apples, water and cinnamon to a blender (a food processor would work too) to smooth out. Easy breezy. Once done, taste and you can add a little sugar if it needs to be sweetened, depending on the apples you used. Mine was sweet enough.

The applesauce will be warm so I put it in an ice bath for about 10 minutes before adding it to the recipe.

Back to the muffins

This recipe uses 3 large, very ripe bananas, some maple syrup and the apple sauce to sweeten. I also used white whole wheat flour but you could use spelt or whole wheat flour as well.

Also, the kiddos always love when I add chocolate chips so I added 1/2 cup of mini dark chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life).

If you enjoy these, try my delightful lemon bars!