Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

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For me, banana bread is the ultimate comfort food. My dear grandmother, who didn't bake very often, used to make the best banana bread, and even my mother, who also rarely ever baked anything (should I feel deprived?) made an equally awesome banana bread when she turned on the oven. Their banana bread was always dark and flavourful, you know the kind I'm talking about, you know it when you see it and taste it. It's brown and rich and tastes like the yummiest banana bread ever. I think the secret is all in brown banana. Honestly. If your bananas are just spotty they won't give you that deep banana flavour. So let those bananas get really ripe, and I mean an all-brown-all-over kinda ripe. Seriously, try it for yourself!

So now, let's talk about these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins! It's hard to imagine peanut butter and bananas without chocolate chips. Right? I mean, they were just meant to be together! This recipe is a variation of my Best Banana Bread. Of all my recipes I would definitely have to say that my Best Banana Bread recipe is the one that I have shared with my friends and family the most. It's tried and true, because after having these muffins people always ask for this recipe. Oh, and did I tell you these are kid and husband tested? True true. These are gone in a flash!

So, I mentioned this is basically my other banana bread recipe just tweaked a bit. I skipped the vanilla and added peanut butter and chocolate chips. I also used kosher salt instead of regular salt because, well, because I LOVE a hit of salty goodness with chocolate - mmmm!

​Give these a try - I think you'll love them too and let me know what you think!
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INGREDIENTS

- 3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/3 cup very soft butter
- 1 cup sugar (can be reduced to 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips


DIRECTIONS

​1. Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease 9"x5" loaf pan or use a muffin tin
2. Mix butter and sugar until blended and creamy then add peanut butter and mix
3. Add sugar, egg and mashed bananas and mix well
4. Mix dry ingredients (baking soda, salt and flour) in a separate bowl
5. Combine dry ingredients with the banana mixture and mix until dry ingredients are wet, add chocolate chips and stir: don't overmix
6. Pour batter into loaf pan or muffin pan
7. Bake loaf for 60 minutes/muffins for 30 minutes and test for doneness. Banana bread is ready when toothpick inserted comes out clean
8. Let for 5 minutes then place onto a wire rack to cool

* Banana bread can be a recipe that is difficult to execute well. Since bananas come in all different sizes it can be tricky to get the right moisture consistency. You are looking for batter that is not runny and not stiff. If your batter is too runny add a bit more flour, if it's too dry add a few tablespoons of milk.

** if you are using previously frozen bananas thaw in advance and make sure they are at room temperature before mixing