Banana Chocolate Chip Pecan Muffins

I created this muffin specifically for my 16 year old, whom cringe at the sight of bananas. Making him “Yuck” face number 2 (If you recall my Simple Pico de Gallo blog post, I’m “Yuck” face number 1)! ”Yuck” face number 2 has recently had the epiphany that he needed to increase his potassium and protein intake in which he concluded he need to eat more bananas (I have been stating this for about 5 years now…better late then never!). For those who are wondering what made him come to this wonderful epiphany…well it’s simple 16 Years old+FOOTBALL PLAYER (JOCK)=Girls! My son is one of the skinniest, but one of the fastest players on his team. He often gets a little weak after the first half of the game which has effected his perform. He wants to perform better on the field to look good in front of the ladies….16 year old boy’s priorities…I swear…! Agreeing with the need for bananas in my son’s diet minus the girl hunt, I attempted to create a banana recipe that wouldn’t make him green in the face after eating. After three tries, I was able to finally come up with a recipe that he actually enjoyed versus tolerated.

This recipe contains flour (whole wheat), flour (all-purpose), baking powder, unsalted butter, sugar, salt, milk, vanilla extract, eggs, bananas, pecans, chocolate (semi-sweet, chips)

yields 12-14 muffins from a medium muffin tin servings

Prep time:

Cook time:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of unbleached white whole wheat flour (I usually use this flour because its milder and sweeter tasting, but any whole wheat flour will do just fine)
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1 cup or 2 sticks of softened unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup of sugar +1 tbsp of sugar for garnish
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 medium bananas
• 1/2 cup of chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

• 1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F, spray generously muffin tin with cooking spray
• 2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl (We will call this, “Dry Ingredients”)
• 3. Puree banana into a food processor, then pour into small bowl (if you do not have a food processor, mash banana until soft, then whisk until liquified).
• 4. Add milk and vanilla extract, then whisk together until incorporated (We will call this, “liquid ingredients”)
• 5. Place softened butter into mixer or whisk with sugar and salt until butter is light and fluffed. For my more experience bakers use the “creaming for cake method”.
• 6. Add eggs, one at a time allow the first egg to whip until well incorporated then add the next.
• 7. Add 1/2 cup of the dry ingredients, allow to pulse/mix together.
• 8. Add 1/3 of the the liquid ingredients, allow to pulse/mix together.
• 9. Repeat steps 5 & 6 until both dry and liquid ingredients are depleted
• 10. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips
• 11. Use 1/2 cup ice cream scoop to place batter into muffin tin
• 12. Use tbsp of sugar to sprinkle on top of muffin batter
• 13. Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes
• 14. Remove from oven, let cool for 2 minutes, serve and enjoy