Chocolate Banana Honey Muffins

I've had a thing for chocolate and bananas lately. Well, to be totally honest, I always have a thing for chocolate, but the bananas have snuck in my baking quite a bit. Usually I use bananas as a means of healthifying (yes, I just made up a word) a recipe by reducing or eliminating the fat/oil called for and using mashed bananas instead. It's an easy and delicious way to make a recipe skinny. You should give a try sometime!

Other than using mashed bananas to make a recipe skinnier, I've also found myself using bananas as the star ingredient. Remember my Banana Chocolate Chip Holes I posted a few weeks back? Well, here's a new recipe that uses bananas to both healthify a recipe and give the recipe a boost of sweet and creamy banana flavor. These muffins, which are great for breakfast in the morning and that sweet tooth attack at night, are a combination of many scrumptious flavors that will keep you wanting to eat more. And would you believe that these muffins have NO added refined sugar. All of the sweetness comes from the natural sugars provided by the banana and honey. If you want to get technical, the chocolate chips and yogurt have added sugars; but we aren't going to be that strict, are we? Mmmk, good.

As with most of my recipes, these muffins are a cinch to make. No mixer is required- just a little bit of arm muscle. After a short 15 minutes, these muffins are mixed and ready for the oven. Eat these babies warm or at room temperature. Either way the chocolate chips stay slightly melted and provide bursts of rich chocolate flavoring that complement the natural and delicate sweet honey and creamy banana. The whole wheat flour adds some heartiness, but the all-purpose flour helps to keep these muffins from tasting too healthy. It is possible to eat well and not sacrifice flavor, and these muffins are proof of that. Here's to enjoying our sweets and getting those bodies ready for bikini season!

Chocolate Banana Honey Muffins (adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)
(12 muffins)

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium ripe bananas)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp milk
1 egg
1 egg white
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a regular size muffin pan with muffin cups. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas, honey, yogurt, vanilla extract, and milk. Whisk ingredients until well combined. Add egg and egg white; whisk eggs into wet ingredients. Make sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to wet ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined, careful not to over mix. Fold the chocolate chips into the muffin batter.

Evenly distribute batter into the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

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Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 158.8
Total Fat: 3.8 g
Cholesterol: 15.7 mg
Sodium: 66.4 mg
Total Carbs: 30.6 g
Fiber: 2.5 g
Sugars: 16.5 g
Protein: 3.8 g

Pros:
-Very easy to make (no mixer required!)
-Muffins mixed and ready to bake in less than 15 minutes
-Delicious, moist muffins that don't taste skinny
-Low in fat
-Great breakfast, snack, or healthy dessert
-Versatile-add nuts, dried fruit, or other flavor of chips to muffin batter (but keep in mind nutritional value will change)

Cons:
-High in sugar (although some of it is natural sugar from the honey and bananas)