Banana Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins

I had leftover over-ripe bananas and I just made banana bread last week and wanted to try something different. I'm usually not a huge fan of banana in baked products (aside from banana bread) because it tends be too sweet. I don't like the sort of fake banana flavor that you get in store bought banana muffins. But these came out great. Sweet, but not too sweet, with delicious banana overtones. And of course, chocolate.

I found the recipe here and made a couple of changes. I didn't have plain yogurt, so I used vanilla instead and left out the extract. I added a dash of cinnamon and chopped up some regular sized semi-sweet chocolate chips. These muffins were a big hit. And it made our apartment smell absolutely wonderful.

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins
from Ruskin girl at grouprecipes.com with mods
Makes 24 mini-muffins

2 small, ripe bananas
3/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 TBS unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped fine (or you can use mini chips)

1) Set oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat to 425ºF
2) Spray a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spray
3) Mash banana and yogurt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
4) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
5) Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy using an electric beater on low. Add the egg and beat at medium speed until creamy.
6) Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low until incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the banana mixture and beat until incorporated. Continue alternating, ending with the flour mixture. Fold chocolate chips into batter.
7) Using a tablespoon, fill each mini-muffin cup to the top with batter (this fit perfectly). Bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until turning golden brown around the top and edges.
8) Allow pans to cool slightly on wire rack. Then remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to finish cooling on the wire rack.