Banana Coconut Chocolate Muffins: As a special treat

As a general rule, I avoid giving Daughters chocolate - mainly because I find it makes them rather nutty. But they do love it, and ONCE in a while, as a special treat I like to give them a chocolate chip cookie or something special.

Last night I decided I wanted to do something with the three very ripe bananas on my counter, and thought that a chocolate chip coconut muffin recipe would be very tasty. I set about trying to create one and came up with this version.

This version is NOT a rich sweet version of cake you serve for breakfast - rather it is not too sweet, has a bit of chocolate and a strong banana flavor. I found the muffin to be really moist and delicious and Daughters squealed with delight at seeing bits of chocolate peeping out at them in the morning. Oh - and these smell AMAZING while baking. They aren't any harder to make than any other muffin recipe.

The funny thing happened with these muffins in the morning - Daughter #2 strolled by the muffin pans and saw the ones that were there. She asked, "Mom is there any food to give my teachers?"

I replied, "Would you like to give them some muffins?"

She thought for a minute, and said, "Yes, but you give them to the teachers. I don't want to carry them." Daughter #2 is extremely shy but wanted to make sure her favorite teachers got some treats.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Muffins
Makes 15

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup of sugar
1 large egg
3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried coconut (if you can find the unsweetened variety, feel free to use.) and a bit more to sprinkle on top of the muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake/muffin pan with liners. In a medium bowl, measure out and mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk egg and sugar, and vanilla extract together until well combined. Add melted butter. Mix well. Squish into the bowl bananas and mix. Add chocolate chips and coconut. Mix well.

3. Add dry mixture. Use a VERY light hand to mix at this point. The more mixing you do the tougher the muffin so try not to over mix. You want everything well mixed together but not over mixed.

4. Divide batter equally in liners. Sprinkle tops with some coconut. Bake until golden brown, about 22-30 minutes.

5. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then enjoy.

Printable recipe

The trick to easy scooping of muffins in the morning - a disher - #16.

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