Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

April 19, 2024

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews is the second book in the Hidden Legacy series that features Prime magic user Catalina Baylor.

As Prime magic users, Catalina Baylor and her sisters have extraordinary powers—powers their ruthless grandmother would love to control. Catalina can earn her family some protection working as deputy to the Warden of Texas, overseeing breaches of magic law in the state, but that has risks as well. When House Baylor is under attack and monsters haunt her every step, Catalina is forced to rely on handsome, dangerous Alessandro Sagredo. Because Catalina won't rest until she stops the use of the illicit, power-granting serum that's tearing their world apart.

This book is a fast-paced urban fantasy with a compelling romantic subplot, which both my mom and I enjoyed reading. I also enjoyed the process of creating and fine-tuning this muffin recipe, similar to what Catalina’s sister, Arabella, is described as doing in this book.

It was late, I was tired, and I hadn’t eaten since this morning, when I stole a couple of Arabella’s “super-healthy vegan muffins.” She’d made them special a few days ago. My sister usually cooked only under duress, but for some reason she got obsessed with that recipe. I had tried pointing out that any muffin recipe that didn’t use dairy was vegan by default, and that the loads of chocolate chips and nuts she’d put into them didn’t make them healthy, but she stuffed a muffin into my mouth and told me to mind my own business.
-Chapter 11, Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews

I started creating this recipe by using the recipe for Vegan Hostess Cupcakes in Pastry Love by Joanne Chang, and then I experimented with adding and replacing different ingredients to achieve these light and flavorful muffins. These muffins are also not too sweet, which makes them perfect for breakfast or as a snack.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

SERVINGS: About 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk  (Note 1)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup vegetable oil (like canola oil)
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 ½ ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup chocolate chips  (Note 2)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Line a 12-cup regular muffin tin with paper liners or generously oil the cups. If using paper liners, spray them with nonstick cooking spray or the muffins will stick to the paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, vanilla extract, oil, and vinegar.
4. Make a well in the flour bowl and pour in the milk mixture.  Stir until just combined.
5. Fold in mashed banana and chocolate chips.
6. Divide batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin cups, filling cups about ¾ full.
7. Bake for 18-24 minutes, rotating the muffin tin midway through the baking time, until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool in the tin on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then remove muffins from tin and serve.

RECIPE NOTES

1. Regular milk can be used instead of non-dairy milk.  I’ve tried this recipe using 2% milk with equally good results.
   
2. To make these muffins truly vegan, you could use vegan chocolate chips or substitute ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts for the chocolate chips.