Banana-nut Chocolate- chip Muffins

It is fun to bake when you have a houseful ( in my case an apartment-full)of kids who appreciate, enjoy, relish and can afford to eat all the baked goodies! After all, they require energy to run around! I just love it! I had some bananas that were getting ready to go bad and decided to make banana-nut muffins.I usually make banana-nut bread, but muffins are easier to serve, easier to eat and easy to pack for picnics at the park. I threw in some chocolate chip for the extra temptation and drizzled some more chopped walnuts on top! The result was an irresistible Banana-nut chocolate-chip muffin. The kids loved it! My son didn't have the patience to wait to eat it! He kept saying "no,no,no" wiggling his cute little index finger every time I set out to take a picture! He just wouldn't let me take a good picture!

I was very happy to see them all gone in record time!

Servings: 2 dozen muffins

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 2 cups+ 1 tbsp
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Salt:1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon: ½ tsp
Ground nutmeg: ¼ tsp
Vanilla extract:1 tsp
Butter:1/2 cup
Brown sugar:3/4 cup
Eggs: 3
Overripe bananas: 2 cups(4 bananas),mashed
Walnuts:½ cup + 1/4 cup,chopped(optional)
Chocolate chips: 1/2cup

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners and keep aside. If you don't have liners, you could just grease it.

Mix 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts with 1 tbsp flour and keep aside.

Using a electric mixer,beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg  in a medium bowl until creamy.

Add the banana, and eggs, beating until smooth.

Now add the flour in little by little stirring with a wooden spoon.

Mix in the nuts and chocolate chips.

Let it rest at room temperature, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tray.

Now sprinkle little bit of the dry flour mixed chopped walnuts on top of each muffin.

Place the tray on the center rack of the oven and  bake for 15-20 mins at 350 deg F. or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Take the muffin tray out and let it  cool for 10 minutes before removing  them out onto a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy them warm.

Cooking made easy:

Mixing the nuts with the flour prevents it from sinking into the batter.

To make muffins you don't necessarily need an electric mixer . You could just use a simple whisk. It will strengthen the arm muscles.;) Just kidding. The truth is there is not that much of mixing/ beating involved. The only thing that you have to worry about is making sure the butter is at room temperature, mixed with sugar and that the eggs are beaten well. The rest only need to be stirred or mixed gently. Over mixing the batter can make it hard.

Tip for healthy living:

Eating a banana first thing in the morning boosts your metabolism and kick-starts your day. It is a wholesome complete food containing all the essential  vitamins and minerals.Banana is rich in potassium and is a known prebiotic.

Food for thought:

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson