Mini Banana Chip Muffins

Per the Stinks request I set out to make mini muffins today.  In true Stinkles fashion, however, when they were completely he had moved on and wanted nothing to do with them.  It is not a review of the muffins that made him turn his nose up, it is his three year old attention span!

After the calorie intensive PB&J muffins from the other day I decided to swing the other way and make a low calorie mini muffin.  I think these are a success!  Of course if you don't like banana's, this is NOT the recipe for you.  I, however, love banana bread and therefore really like this recipe!

Mini Banana Chip Muffins

• 1 c Flour
• 1 c Banana, mashed (about 3 medium bananas)
• 1 T Baking Powder
• 1/2 t Baking Soda
• 1/4 c Sugar
• 1/4 c Unsweetened Applesauce
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 t Vanilla 
• Chocolate Chips (optional but add that extra something)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease your mini muffin tins.  (These can be made into regular muffins as well, but Stinks hardly ever finishes a full size muffin so I stuck with mini muffins.)
2. Mix together the sugar, mashed bananas, applesauce, vanilla and egg.
3. Mix in the powder, soda, and flour.
4. Finally mix in the chocolate morsels.  (You will notice in the picture that I used white chocolate pieces - again at the little one's request!)
5. Scoop a tablespoon of batter into each mini muffin cup.  (Be sure to only fill them 3/4 of the way or they will spread too much.)
6. Bake until the muffins are set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  (Be sure to cook until the sides start to brown - I removed my mini muffins a little early.  They still taste good, but I think they would have been even better if the side browned up nicely.)
7. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the tin.  
8. ENJOY!

As this is my first time making these muffins I wasn't sure how many the recipe made.  It turns out that I made 24 mini muffins (though I overflowed about 14 of them so I could have easily had 30 mini muffins) and 2 regular muffins.  Taking that into account, I would say the recipe makes about 35 mini muffins or 12-14 regular muffins.  If you are making mini muffins, the calorie count comes in at about 35 calories per muffin.  If you are making regular muffins the count comes in at about 90 calories per muffin.  In either case I am pleased!  (If you want to omit the chocolate morsels - I used about 1/4 of a cup - then the calories come in at 26/mini muffin and 70/regular muffin!)

UPDATE:
I am just writing to say that these muffins are now a staple in our house.  I no longer make them mini - Brian and I prefer the normal muffin size.  They don't puff up as much as "normal" muffins, but they aren't nearly as calorie intensive so I am ok with this!  I can normally make about 18 muffins (I sometimes use 4 bananas and have been known not to measure all that well) which brings the calorie count to about 80 calories per muffin.  (I also use egg beaters.)


Let me know if you try them - I always like feedback!