Chocolate banana muffins

I’ve recently been on a bit of a cookbook binge, and got two books by Nigella Lawson. Her writing can be over-the-top at times, but that just makes the recipes more fun to read. What other cookbook can boast shellfish characterized by “bouncy sweetness”, cheesecake that’s an “overindulgent vulgarity”, and a recipe for “Slut’s Spaghetti”, among other gems?

I’ve never given much thought to the combination of banana and chocolate (except perhaps for banana and hot fudge in ice cream sundaes), but these muffins in Nigella Kitchen caught my eye – and not just because they’re promised to bake up “dark, rounded, and peeking proudly out of their paper cups.”  

It’s an appealing and fairly straightforward recipe, even for a weekday, and the resulting muffins are moist and chocolatey.

Chocolate banana muffins
3-4 very ripe bananas, mashed (~400 grams or about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
80 grams brown sugar (1/2 cup, only lightly packed)
200 grams flour (1 1/2 cups)
20 grams unsweetened cocoa (3 tbsp)
5 grams baking soda (1 tsp)
70 grams dark chocolate baking chips*, or chopped dark chocolate (1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin pan with 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl (or in a standing mixer, though this isn’t really necessary), mix the mashed bananas, oil, and eggs until blended.  Add the brown sugar and mix.

Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda in a mixing bowl, and whisk to break up any lumps.  (Alternatively, sift the three together.)  Add dry ingredients gradually to the banana mixture and mix until just incorporated.

Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl, then stir chocolate chunks into batter.

Distribute batter into the muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for 13 minutes.


Adapted from Nigella Kitchen
*I recommend 60% dark chocolate Ghiradelli baking chips, they’re much bigger than regular chocolate chips