Foodie Week - Banana, Strawberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hello!

I'm back today with a very yummy breakfast muffin!  I bought a big bunch of bananas from Costco last week and was amazed at how quickly they went brown!  I've really been trying not to waste food, so I was disappointed that we didn't get a chance to eat them all - so I jumped onto Pinterest and looked up banana recipes - I was NOT disappointed!  There were so many, I should've made a new board dedicated just to banana's!  And I don't even like banana's that much!  But I really really really like these muffins!

{Recipe and Photo courtesy of  fortheloveofcooking.net via Pinterest.com}

Banana, Strawberry, and Chocolate Chip Muffins:

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

• ½ cup of butter, softened
• ¾ cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 overripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 10-12 fresh strawberries diced
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees then coat a muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, bananas, and vanilla then continue beating until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together, mix well. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Add most of the diced strawberries and most of the chocolate chips then gently mix them into the batter.

Spoon the batter evenly into each muffin tin. Place the remaining strawberries and chocolate chips on top of each muffin.

Place into the oven and bake 18-20 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool on a rack. Slather with butter and enjoy!

 

Okay, so these muffins are delicious!  I LOVE them!  They are moist, not chewy, packed with flavor, easy to make and I feel good that Adam's getting fruit in every bite!  Here's a few changes that I made due to ingredient shortage...

 

I used 1/2 C brown sugar and 1/4 C sugar because I didn't have enough brown sugar

I used 4 bananas because that's what I had!

I used 15 fresh strawberries... mine were sliced and I wish I would've diced them!

I used more chocolate chips... just because I can!

I used silicone cupcake liners because I feel like their less mess!

I also used a mini-muffin tin because I wanted to give some to friends too!

Here's what mine looked like...

Yum!

See what I mean about extra chocolate chips?  And the chunks of strawberries are such a yummy compliment to the banana and chocolate! 

Also, since I cannot pass up a cute packaging idea, and since I'd just gotten a new shipment of dies from QuicKutz, I grabbed the strawberry container die and packaged the mini-muffins up for a friend!

I put half-a-dozen mini-muffins in a cello bag, tied it with a twist tie and added a ribbon.  I then die cut the container and put it together - it's a good size!  And easy!  I really like it and can't wait to use it this summer!  I added shred in the bottom of the container and made a little tag with a strawberry on it (strawberry 2x2 QuicKutz die).  Simple but cute and summery!

Okay, so here's my review (1-10, 10 being amazing!)
Taste: 10!
Ease: 10!
Cost: 10!  Anything that lets me use something that we'd throw away otherwise is great!
Healthy: Well, the recipe is probably a 8, my version is probably more of a 5-6!  I love that it doesn't have oil!  Ya for no oil!

I will make these again... they're a great little breakfast, snack or desert!  Next time I might add some rolled oats too!

I'll see you tomorrow with a delicious veggie enchilada bake recipe!  I LOVE pinterest recipes!  I may never buy a cookbook again!
Andrea 

PS - My husband told me that the lemon cookies from yesterday are his favorite cookies that I've made - EVER!