Banana and White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Is there one item that you absolutely can’t leave without when shopping at the grocery store? For me, it’s bananas. For whatever reason, those bright, cheery bananas always lure me over to them and I end up grabbing a massive bundle. I love to display the bananas in my kitchen because they are an easy snack to peel open and enjoy. Plus, they just look so friendly and add a bit of color and freshness to the kitchen.

However, there’s a downfall when it comes to bananas. Since it’s just my husband and me who live in our house, we can never seem to keep up with the aging process of the bananas that we buy. As more and more spots begin to appear on the bananas, I find myself becoming anxious about the whole banana situation. Yes, I’m weird like that. I get anxious about aging bananas. Why? Because I want to be sure that they are enjoyed.

I almost always start my day with a heaping bowl of cereal, along with a glass of orange juice and a bagel with cream cheese. I wake up craving my daily bowl of cereal. I have to admit, I’m slightly obsessed with cereal. There are mornings when I slice up a banana and add it to my cereal. However, there are also some mornings when I skip that whole process.

I will also add bananas to smoothies since they have a tendency to kick the flavor up a notch, as well as add a certain kind of creaminess to the smoothie recipe. There’s just something that screams summer about a banana berry smoothie, am I right or am I right?

I also have noticed that my husband will cut up a banana and enjoy the slices when he sits down to eat his lunch.

With all of this banana eating in one household, one would think that we would be able to eat the entire bundle week after week. However, sadly, that is sometimes not the case.

Today, my husband grabbed the super ripe bananas, looked at me as he was dangling the bananas over the trash, and asked, “Are you going to use these?”

I immediately said, “Yes!” However, I had no recipe in my mind. All I knew was that I wanted to bake today and I had to include the bananas. The poor, brown, almost trash-worthy bananas …

… and that’s when it hit me. I had white chocolate chips in the freezer. Why not combine the two? And combine is what I did.

Do you run into the same banana problem as us?

P.S. For more information about the science-backed health benefits of bananas, be sure to click here.

Banana and White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl and then beat together the bananas, sugar, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
4. Combine banana mixture with the flour mixture until just moistened.
5. Fold in the white chocolate chips.
6. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups.
7. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

What is the one item at the grocery store that you always buy?