Monday, February 27, 2012

Meatless Monday: Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins

Okay, so I'm totally I'm cheating. I mean, duh, muffins are meatless. You don't need me to tell you that. But I am anyway, because this simple base recipe for banana muffins (well, the original recipe was for banana bread...details, details) is so moist and delicious and can be changed up in so many delicious ways! This time around, I added chocolate chips and coconuts. It's fabulous even without add-ins, but you can add just about anything you'd want in a muffin. Except meat. Don't add meat. This recipe yields 2 dozen muffins or one loaf of bread. Prep time is about 15 minutes; baking time is 20-25 minutes for muffins, 75-90 minutes for bread. The muffins freeze well. I'm sure the bread would do, but I've never had a loaf last long enough to find out.

What You'll Need:



  • 1 Stick of Butter (softened)
  • 1 Cup of Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons Milk (I used whole milk this time, but have used soy milk in the past with good results)
  • 4-5 "very ripe" bananas. The browner, the better! If you're like me and always end up with one or two bananas that are too ripe for your liking, throw 'em in the freezer and save 'em up until you have enough. Just take them out a few hours ahead of time so they can thaw out.
  • 2 Cups of Flour (I've used anything from regular ol' white flour to super brown whole wheat flour.)
  • 1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
  • 1-2 Cups of "Add-ins" Limit it to 1 cup if you're doing bread, otherwise you might overflow your pan. I used 1 cup chocolate chips and about 3/4 cup shredded coconut. Chocolate chips alone are also excellent; raisins, craisins, and nuts are good too. It just occurred to me that pineapple and coconut would make an amazing combo. I might just try that next time.
What You'll Do:
  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and milk.
  • In a separate bowl, mash the bananas, then add to the mixture in the large bowl and mix together. The batter will be lumpy. That's okay. In fact, it's better that way. Stir in your add-ins with a spoon.
  • Grease or cooking-spray the muffin tins (or bread pan) or use paper liners in the muffin tins. Fill the muffin cups (or bread pan) about 3/4 full.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes (muffins) or 75-90 minutes (bread). After shortest baking time, check with toothpick. When toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, your muffins (or bread) are done.
  • Turn out from pan and cool on a wire rack. I'm serious. I know it's tempting, but if you eat them too soon, you'll burn your mouth. It might be worth it. I'm just saying.
  • Enjoy!


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3 comments:

  1. Joella, when you have frozen bananas still in the peel, you can take them out and thaw them under running water until they're all mushy, then just cut off the tip and squeeze out the mush through it. Saves you even needing to mash em!! I always forget to take things out & let em thaw til the moment of, so I know these things ;)

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