Peanut Butter Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips _ Food Wishes

Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Peanut Butter Banana Muffins. That's right, Elvis probably would have added bacon to these, but we all saw how things turned out for him. So we're going to go in a little healthier direction and add a whole bunch of chocolate chips instead. And thanks in some part to that addition, these were some of the best muffins I've had in a very long time. So with that, let's go ahead and get started by putting together our dry ingredients, which we'll do by adding some salt to some all-purpose flour, along with some baking powder and it's good friend baking soda. And once all that's in there, we'll take a whisk and mix this for about 30 seconds or until we think everything's evenly combined. And once that's set, we can move on to much moister matters. And for our wet ingredients, we will start with some hopefully soft room temperature butter, to which we will add a And the reason I want you to use a pure peanut butter is because some brands have a lot of sugar in them, which we'll throw off the measurements here. Although that really isn't a deal breaker, so use what you got. But if it is kind of a sweet one, maybe reduce the sugar a little bit. And then to our two butters, we'll add a little touch of sugar before we grab our hand mixer and whip all this together until it's nice and light and fluffy. Oh, and not to brag, but I did actually remember to take the butter out, so it was much softer than you're used to seeing. And of course, we always want to start off slow, so as not to have stuff flying out of the bowl. But once it comes together, we can switch to high speed and we will keep mixing until eventually the mixture looks like this. And then once that's been accomplished, we will peel and add and mix in two large ripe bananas, which might be the trickiest thing about this very easy recipe. All right, you're going to watch this and want to make these and you'll head to the store, but all they'll have is green bananas. And you'll have to wait a few days before you can start the recipe, which will seem like a mop. But it's okay, it's totally worth the wait. Oh, and if there's a little bit of bruising on the banana, like on this last piece I'm going to throw in, that's totally fine. Right? My mom made like the best banana bread. And for that, she would use the blackest, oldest, most bruised bananas you can imagine. And it was still amazing every time. So if you see a little bit of bruising, just keep cruising. And I promise there won't be any problem. And then what we'll do once our bananas are mixed in and our mixture is nice and light and fluffy again, is stop and blend in two large eggs, which just to be safe, we'll blend in one at a time. Okay, sometimes if you add too much liquid to a butter-based batter, it will separate and split and look terrible. And even though the recipe will probably still come out, it is a little bit disconcerting. So like I said, we'll do those one at a time. And once both eggs have been blended in, we will add the last two wet ingredients, a little splash of whole milk, as well as a little bit of vanilla extract. And of course, we always use the pure and the real. And once we've briefly blended that in, we will stop and toss in our flour mixture. And then using low speed, we will mix this flour in until it's about 75% incorporated. Alright, give or take, there's no way to measure. So we'll simply mix it until it looks like this, at which point we'll switch to a spatula and we will mix in our chocolate chips, if we're going to use them that is. I mean, you don't have to, but man, you really should, since they kind of make this. And by the way, these were like a 72% cacao, but because these muffins are fairly sweet, you could if you want to go with something with a higher percentage, like a nice extra bittersweet chocolate. I mean, you are after all the Colonel Parker of whether the chocolate should be darker, but I wouldn't go the other direction. Alright, I think something like milk chocolate would be way too sweet in these. But anyway, once our chips and the rest of the flour has been mixed in, we will head over to our muffin tin, which has been lined with some parchment paper baking cups. We'll go ahead and divide that batter evenly to make 12 portions. And for me, the easiest tool for this is an ice cream scoop, but you go ahead and use whatever you want, as long as we get the same amount of batter in each one. And then once our muffin tin has been battered, before this goes in the oven, we'll want to give it the old tapa tapa, just to settle everything down. And that's it, this is now ready to transfer into the center of a 350 degree oven for about 23 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are very lightly browned and they look like this. Oh yeah, those look good and done, but we don't want to go by appearance. Great cooks sometimes go by look, but bakers don't. So we'll test this with a toothpick, and if it comes out clean, your muffins are done. I know a little bit of chocolate doesn't count, but if it comes out with raw batter on it, put them back in the oven for a little longer. But anyway, these were perfect, which means I'll let them sit in the muffin tin cooling for about 15 minutes, before I pop them out and place them on this baking rack, where we really should let them cool all the way down to room temperature. Okay, you do what you want, but I don't think the taste or texture is going to be as good until you let these cool. So that's what I did, at which point I decided to top these with a little bit of peanut butter icing, which is completely optional, and these really don't need it, but it does add a little extra certain something, and I think makes them look even more beautiful. And by the way, when you're piping a stiff icing like this, try not to move the tip too fast, because what'll happen is that little rope of icing will break, and then you'll have to try to fix it by piping a little more in the empty spot. So be a little bit patient, and you won't have that problem. And yes, of course, as usual, I will include the recipe for the icing as well, although it's nothing more than powdered sugar, some peanut butter, and a little splash of milk. And that's it. Once iced, I let them sit for another 15 or 20 minutes, just so that could harden up a little bit. And of course, I had to take some pictures, which is why I decided all these need to be turned a quarter of an inch, so the icing was at a better angle, which may or may not have made any difference. But anyway, after taking some of those, I grabbed one and pulled off the paper, and went in for the official taste. And that, my friends, in both taste and texture, was an absolutely beautiful muffin. All right, if you like peanut butter and banana and chocolate, and any kind of combination, there is no way you're not going to love these. And I think the balance between the peanut butter flavor and the banana flavor is perfect here. All right, it was tempting to use a little more peanut butter, to maybe try to make these a little bit richer, but I'm glad I did. Okay, I am a huge fan of peanut butter, but if you use too much of it, it really does overwhelm all the other flavors, which I'm very happy was not the case here. And then last but not least, we should also mention how awesome the chocolate chips are in these. All right, chocolate and banana are great together, and of course, peanut butter and chocolate are a classic, so it totally makes sense that all three things work together so well. So, I'll finish up by saying, if I make these again, which I will, I will change absolutely nothing, which is why I really do hope you give these a try soon. So, please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much more info, as usual. And, as always, enjoy!