This is a super simple recipe to start off with. I’m sure many of you already have a go-to recipe when it comes to banana bread and banana muffins, but I thought I’d share mine with you anyways. If you try them, let me know what you think!
I’ve made these muffins a lot lately. It started in February when middle sister came to visit me with my nephew. I knew my nephew liked to bake and we were going to be having a tea party with Kendra and her middle sister, so we decided that banana chocolate chip muffins would be a good addition to the spread. I was a little worried about finding a good recipe and then it dawned on me… middle sister had made me a little recipe book a number of years ago for Christmas with a lot of classic family recipes we grew up with. Ta da! I found a banana bread recipe. Note: it was banana bread so we just changed the cook time to make it into muffins.
While making the muffins, middle sister asked if I minded just adding the dry ingredients on top of the wet and mixing them in the same bowl. It’s funny, she’s always asking me permission to do things in the kitchen. I think it’s because she thinks/knows I’m a bit of a control freak in the kitchen (maybe I am… and maybe not just in the kitchen). If eldest sister is with us, we both ask her permission to do things. First because she is a control freak in the kitchen (I’m pretty sure it’s self-admitted) but secondly because she is also a really good cook and baker… really good.
That makes me think of a funny story. A few years ago, all 3 of us (my sisters and I) were home, home meaning at my parents’ house. It doesn’t happen too often because each of us lives in a different place, none of which is where my parents live (my poor parents). We decided to bake though can’t even remember what we were making but that isn’t important. We were getting started on the measuring and mixing and middle sister asks eldest sister, “It doesn’t matter if the eggs are room temperature like the recipe says, does it?”. Eldest sister responds, “YES! I forgot about that. Could you put the eggs in a bowl of warm water?”. Middle sister proceeds to get the eggs out of the refrigerator and is about to crack one into a bowl of warm water when eldest sister notices and exclaims in a panic, “What are you doing?!”. Middle sister replies, “Putting the eggs in warm water!” in a ‘I’m just doing what you asked me to’ tone of voice. And then it dawned on her that she wasn’t supposed to crack them into the water but rather put them in whole. Oh we all started laughing sooo hard. I think middle sister and I ended up on the ground in the kitchen in laughter. And now reading that story, I realize it was way funnier being there than it is for you reading it. Sorry, one of those ‘had to be there’ moments.
So back to the banana muffin recipe at hand, I of course said yes to adding the dry on top of the wet ingredients because who wants to dirty more dishes when it’s completely unnecessary! Middle sister is much smarter and kitchen savvy than she gives herself credit for. I mean, I was asking her questions about how she does things… simple things like cook times for different meats. I don’t know what temperature to use and for how long for a lot of roasts, sausages, etc. Those basic skills and knowledge are so valuable and sometimes I feel like I’m missing a lot of that… thankfully I have her! (I think I’m going to do a post on how to cook a whole chicken since I want to learn… stay tuned.)
Well, that was another bunny trail. And we’re back to the banana bread, well, banana muffins because we decided muffins were a better idea than a bread. I definitely prefer muffins to breads but I can’t pinpoint why. Maybe they’re just easier to grab and go, or maybe it’s a texture difference? But as I mentioned earlier, to make the recipe work as muffins we changed the cook time (decreased it significantly). That’s all you need to do for any quick bread recipe. Easy peasy. And since that lovely day when we made them, I’ve changed it a bit more to make it with some whole wheat flour and decrease the sugar slightly. The addition of whole wheat flour into the mix meant I need to add a bit more liquid. And I’ve also doubled the recipe because muffins sure don’t last long in our house! Maybe if I made bread, it wouldn’t disappear as fast. Hmmmm. But truth be told, I like when food disappears fast because then I know it was delicious! Well, here’s the recipe finally! I hope your family thinks these are as good as we do!
One Bowl Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup milk + 2 tsp vinegar
- 4 medium over ripe bananas mashed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ cups white flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips optional (but not really)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F). Line muffin tins with muffin liners.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in microwave, approximately 30 seconds. It doesn’t need to be completely melted but soft enough to mix with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Add sugar to bowl and mix until uniform. Add eggs and stir until well combined.
- Measure milk and vinegar into measuring cup. This will allow the milk to turn sour almost immediately. Add to large bowl along with the mashed banana and vanilla. Mix until all ingredients are well combined. Remove spatula from bowl.
- On top of the wet ingredients, add the flours, baking soda and salt. With a small fork or spoon, mix these ingredients without mixing into the wet ingredients. Once the baking soda and salt are well dispersed in the flour, use the spatula to mix the wet and dry ingredients together just until combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips, if using. Spoon batter into lined muffin cups, approximately ¼ cup. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Notes
