Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

A few years ago, while sitting in a playground, I complained to a friend that I didn't have a trusty, easy banana bread recipe. She rattled this recipe off to me, and with just a bit of tinkering to suit our taste, it's been a staple ever since.

It's a cinch and perfect to make with little kids. It's quick. It uses three of those bananas getting brown on the counter. And, it's incredibly forgiving and adaptable.

I've made it with all whole wheat flour, with half white and half whole wheat (my current favorite), all white and spelt flour (earning me a bit of love from friends who avoid gluten).

I've added nuts, flax seed and chocolate chips. I suggest half white flour and half whole wheat cake flour - or soft whole wheat flour, as it's called in our bulk store- to start. Play with it from there. The high fruit content makes it incredibly moist without lots of fat. It's a work horse and will take almost anything you throw at it. We throw chocolate at it most of the time because, well, we're like that.

Mini-muffins are great for the six and under crowd. Otherwise, regular muffins or a quick bread are perfect for anyone over 4 ft. in your life. Bring these to the playground, office or a friend's house next time you go. You'll be popular.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 ripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mash bananas in medium sized bowl. Add brown sugar and eggs and combine.

Melt butter and add to banana mixture while stirring.

Mix dry ingredients and then add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Don't over mix.

Bake 25 minutes for regular muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini muffins. Test center with a toothpick. Cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Makes 12 large or 15 regular sized muffins. I generally get around 38-40 mini muffins out of a batch.