BANANA | COFFEE | CHOCOLATE CHIP | WHOLE WHEAT MUFFINS

I made these today and they were fantastic! I am curious if using espresso vs. coffee would bring out the coffee flavor a bit more, so I will have to try that sometime and report back.  I was surprised at how soft they were. I was expecting them to be possibly a bit dense b/c of all the whole wheat flour, but they are actually super moist! I will be making them again for sure!

 

2 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any on hard, so I made my own using whole milk and lemon juice - super easy and I am sure any kind of milk would work)
3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup banana mashed, plus 1 cup diced (2 large bananas smashed and 1 diced)
1/4 cup strong coffee, room temperature
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup chocolate chips or cacao nibs
sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or line 2 muffin tins. (Makes 24 muffins)

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together, and make a well in the center. Combine the oil, milk, mashed banana, coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, sugar, and egg. Whisk the wet ingredients together and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir the ingredients together until almost mixed. Add diced banana and chocolate chips and finish mixing until just combined, being careful not to over mix. (Remember, lumpy is good!)

Scoop the batter into the prepared pans, filling the muffin cup about two-thirds full. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Bake until the muffin edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with the very tiniest bit of crumb, 16-20 minutes.

(Recipe slightly adapted from The Vanilla Bean Blog)