I must apologize for my prolonged absence. I’m sorry.

Does vacating the country for several weeks constitute a forgivable excuse? Oh the sights, sounds, and smells that I feasted on. I wondered and wandered. It was a respite for my body (there were no runners in my single, under weight, checked bag), and my soul. Funny how we sometimes have to travel to a new place to discover our old selves. But more on that later. Back to my apology.

If you lived near me, I would bake a batch of muffins, cover them with my favorite tea towel while they were still warm and make my way over to your house, in hopes of exchanging the muffins for your forgiveness. But since you don’t, I’m hoping that providing you with this yummy recipe will suffice.

Espresso & Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

slightly adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, makes 12 muffins

• 1 1/2 C mashed, VERY, VERY ripe bananas (about 4 to 5 medium sized bananas)
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/4 C packed brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 C fat free vanilla soy milk (you can use whatever milk you have on hand)
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 C unbleached flour
• 1 slightly rounded tsp instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 C dark chocolate chips

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease, or line with paper liners, your 12 cup muffin tin.
• Stir together the bananas, soy milk, sugars, butter, egg and vanilla.
• In another bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined then fold in the chocolate chips.
• Divide the batter evenly amount the 12 muffin cups.
• Bake about 23 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and place the muffin tin on a cooling rack. Let cool for about 15 minutes then remove the muffins from the tin and continue cooling on the cooling rack.
• Store in an airtight container about two days. If you have any left, wrap them in plastic wrap in store them in the freezer until you want them.

Notes:

• VERY ripe bananas = BLACK bananas. Not just slightly spotted. Not just mostly spotted and mushy. The riper the bananas, the more flavor they will impart in your baking. The bananas pictured above are not ripe enough.
• The original recipe calls for 1/2 C butter. Go ahead if you want (ie. you’re not going on a beach vacation over your Christmas break), but I found the muffins great with just 2 Tbsp of butter. The bananas will give your muffins more than enough goodness without the butter.
• Instant espresso powder is NOT the same as ground espresso. Instant espresso powder dissolves instantly (hence the name). Ground espresso needs to be prepared in an espresso machine, but it most certainly would be great served along side the muffins.
• If you do live near me, let me know, I just might pop by with a fresh batch of muffins!