Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

No matter what, I always end up with over ripe bananas on our counter.  Once they get too far gone to eat, they go straight into the freezer so that I can use them later for baked goods.  Miss F went crazy for these treats, having them for breakfast and in her snack bag for school.  There is no mixer needed, so she was able to make them nearly entirely herself.  We are still working on dishing the batter into the muffin cups, it is an acquired skill.  These muffins were adapted from Taste of Home.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 medium ripe bananas
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with the egg, oil and vanilla. Stir in the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill 12 paper lined muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

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Strawberry Banana Bread

We went strawberry picking a couple weeks back with some of Miss F's classmates. Miss F ate nearly half of her bucket of strawberries before we even left Froberg Farms, dirt and all. She is strawberry obsessed and I can't blame her. The strawberries fresh picked are so much more delicious than those you get in the grocery store. Miss F wanted to make strawberry jam, but after inspecting our diminished haul, I decided we didn't have enough to make jam. I had a few bananas in our freezer, so off to the internet I went in search of a strawberry banana bread recipe. I was in luck, there was a well reviewed recipe from Disney World, specifically the Whispering Canyon Café.  This bread was delicious, just as I remembered from our stay at the Wilderness Lodge.

Strawberry Banana Bread

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 medium-size)
2 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ pound sliced strawberries

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the mashed bananas. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, stir until combined. Gently stir in the strawberries. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, slice and serve.

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One Bite Wonders

This recipe was recommended by a friend and I happened to have two over ripe bananas in our fruit bowl.  Miss F adored these little muffins.  Since they have peanut butter in them, I am not able to send them to school in her lunch, but she did enjoy them for breakfast almost every day for a week.  Like a little breakfast dessert.  Next time I will probably half the recipe since it makes 48 mini muffins.  Though that will force me to half an egg, which is always a pain. I know you can freeze leftover muffins, but I am never happy with the quality once they are defrosted.

One-Bite Wonders

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two mini-muffin pans with baking cups.

In a bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside. In a second bowl, combine bananas, peanut butter, both sugars, oil, vanilla, and egg. Whisk wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until moist (do not over mix, a few lumps are okay). Gently fold in ¾ cup chocolate morsels. Fill each well in the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Top with a few of the remaining chocolate morsels.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove muffins from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

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Blueberry Banana Bread

Miss F was an excellent helper when making this bread. For the first time she didn't get flour everywhere when she stirred, so I see that as a major success.  She insisted on having a slice straight from the oven.  And then she ate it in the strangest way, she picked out all the bread portions first, ate them and then ate all the blueberries.  Silly girl.  It's blueberry season around here, so if you have some to use, I recommend adding it to this recipe or your own banana bread recipe.  I adapted this recipe from Straight from the Farm.

Blueberry Banana Bread

1 ¾ cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease one loaf pan. Set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture. Stir in half of the bananas, then add half of the flour mixture. Stir in the remaining bananas and then the remaining flour mixture. Fold in the blueberries. Pour batter into the greased loaf pan and bake for an hour or until golden brown and springy to the touch.

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Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I am always looking for healthy treats to pack in Miss F's lunchbox.  I saw these cookies on Pinterest and I knew they would be perfect, even though I was wary that there was no sugar in them at all.  And no eggs.  And no flour.  But yet they were called "cookies."  Thanks to Lick the Bowl Good for this fantastic and kid friendly recipe.  I always have bananas on hand, once they get past the point of being enjoyed on their own, I toss them straight into the freezer to be used in baked goods later.

Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/3 cup butter, softened
¼ cup milk
2 cups oats
½ cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ripe bananas, mashed

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Let stand for 5-10 minutes allowing the oats to soak up all the milk. Drop by tablespoon full onto a cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool. Makes 2-3 dozen.

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

This recipe is an adaptation of my mom's banana bread recipe.  We had a long morning at the pool and Miss F was in no mood for napping.  So we baked banana bread...Miss F style.  She is happy to help me bake, especially if she gets to snack on chocolate chips while doing so.  And with this recipe, not only did she get chocolate chips, she also got a bowl of applesauce to eat as well.  A toddler's dream!  This recipe is especially nice because you don't have to drag out the mixer.  I just measure the wet ingredients in a 4 cup measure and give it a whir with my immersion blender.  That is the only thing that Miss F didn't do in making this bread, it really is that easy.

Chocolate Banana Bread

1 ½ cups flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 eggs
¼ cup natural applesauce
¼ cup canola oil
2 over ripe bananas
¾ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, sift the first six ingredients together. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, applesauce, oil and bananas on medium speed until well combined. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Grease a 9”x5” loaf pan and fill with the batter. Bake for 45 minutes, let cool before slicing.

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Banana Oat Bread

With a fickle toddler, we always have bananas in various states of ripeness hanging around our house. I often throw the super ripe ones in the freezer for banana bread, banana peanut butter oat muffins or banana applesauce oat muffins.  Obviously, the toddler loves the banana oat combo, so I decided to try it out in a bread version.  I served it at our playgroup and every slice was devoured.  Apparently, the banana oat combo is a huge hit among all toddlers, not just my own.  The recipe is from The Motherload and next time, I am going to add extra oats on the top like she did, it looks so nice.

Banana Oat Bread

1 ½ cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup mashed banana
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine banana, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a small bowl or measuring cup. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, in the pan, for about 15 minutes (I left mine in longer and it was fine). Remove the bread from the pan after 15 minutes and cool thoroughly on the rack.

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Banana Peanut Butter Oat Muffins

Miss F is still a huge fan of muffins. And she is an even bigger fan of helping to bake the muffins. Her assistance is normally putting all the muffin liners in to the tin while I mix all the ingredients, but she is also great at stirring. I doubled this recipe because I had a lot of overripe bananas. In one batch, I left the plain. The other got an addition of 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, which made Miss F an even bigger fan. This recipe is from Baking Bites.

Banana Peanut Butter Oat Muffins

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 med.)
6 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs, mashed banana, peanut butter and buttermilk until very smooth, making sure all egg has been well-incorporated. Pour into flour mixture and stir until no streaks of flour remain. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin tin, filling each just about up to the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed. Remove muffins from tin and cool on a wire rack.

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Mini Banana Muffins

It's my turn to host playgroup for the toddlers this week. I plan on taking full advantage of this glorious weather, so we are meeting at a local park. These muffins are easily eaten by toddlers and their moms alike. They are super easy to make and even easier to tote along to the park to soak up the sun.

Mini Banana Muffins
makes 30 mini muffins

2 to 3 brown bananas, peeled and mashed
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup natural applesauce
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add bananas, sugar, egg, and applesauce and mix well.

Stir in baking soda, powder, salt and flour. Mix well.

Line the mini muffin tins with paper liners. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 way full. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool.

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Banana Applesauce Oat Muffins

I made these for Miss F to have a borderline healthy breakfast muffin on hand. And I added the chocolate chips to ensure she would eat all the healthiness of them. Having eaten one about halfway through the cooling process, I am sure if she is not a fan, I will be more than happy to eat them for her. These were amazing. They are very moist and full of flavor. I might try them next time with all whole wheat flour since there is such a minor amount. My best advice: make these now!

Banana Applesauce Oat Muffins
printable recipe

1 egg
3 mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup natural applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup quick cooking oats
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine egg, bananas, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir the oatmeal into the flour mixture. Gently stir flour mixture into the banana mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and place on a wire rack to let cool before serving.

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Banana Bread

Lately, we have not had bananas in the house long enough to make banana bread. Miss F loves bananas, so much so that she would have them every meal. That girl can eat an entire banana under a minute. She also loves banana bread. I wonder when she will have enough logic skills to realize that she needs to leave two bananas on our countertop long enough to get nice and over ripe. This recipe is my mom's. I am going to try it in the future recplacing the oil with applesauce, since we always have it on hand and it would make the bread a bit healthier for Miss F.

Banana Bread
printable recipe

1 ¾ cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
2 over ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, sift the first five ingredients together. In a medium bowl, beat the remaining three ingredients at medium speed until well combined. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined. Grease your loaf pan and fill with the batter. Bake for 45 minutes, let cool before slicing.

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