Bananas are quite simply one of my favorite fruits. They’re cheap, they’re portable, they’re satiating, and they even satisfy a sweet tooth when chocolate, cake, cookies, or muffins are nowhere to be found.

Throughout my pregnancy, though, bananas and I have had a rocky relationship. After I realized I was pregnant, I noticed that bananas started leaving this awful aftertaste in my mouth. If they were too ripe, the smell was quite unappealing to me. I never got sick, but I had to take a break from my beloved bananas for several weeks.

Lucky for me, bananas and I patched things up during the 2^nd trimester. I sliced or mashed them into yogurt or oats, spread them with nut butter, and just ate them as-is for a snack. I didn’t care if they were slightly under-ripe or a little too freckled and soft. I just ate them with my typical banana-loving gusto.

Don’t you just love that word, gusto?

Anyway, now that I’m in the 3^rd trimester, I just can’t handle the mushiness or overt sweetness of over-ripe bananas! I’m fine eating them otherwise, but when I had 3 extremely brown bananas wasting away in my kitchen, I knew I had to do something.

One of the bananas I mashed into a refreshing jar of overnight oats, and the other 2 were joined together in holy muffin matrimony.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon (mine was heaping!)
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 2 large, ripe bananas
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• ¼ cup maple syrup (or honey, agave nectar, etc.)
• ¼ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer mini chips)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a muffin tin with butter, coconut oil, or spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, egg, coconut oil, liquid sweetener, yogurt, and vanilla until thoroughly mixed and no longer lumpy.
4. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients, gently stirring until combined, but being careful not to over-mix.
5. Fold the chocolate chips into the mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin compartments till each is ¾ of the way full.
7. Bake for 15 minutes* until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.

*15 minutes was perfect for my oven, but I often need to under-bake most other recipes slightly. Set your timer for 15 minutes, but if they’re not quite set, go ahead and bake another 2-3 minutes.

I love these muffins because they are just lightly sweet. They’re perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a snack and are relatively healthy. Chopped walnuts or pecans make excellent additions, too!