A Worthy Muffin

Muffins are powerful things. A dry and overly sweet muffin can make me downright grumpy but a good muffin, well, that's another story entirely. I've been in a baking rut with this particular muffin recipe lately. I'm about to make it for the fourth time in a mere month. But I don't think a rut can accurately describe my compulsion to bake these muffins repeatedly. A rut has a negative overtone when these muffins bring me a little bit of joy in the morning. They are like a self-help book in cake form.

And it's time for me to share.

This recipe comes from my King Arthur Baker's Companion. You may tire of me mentioning the flour and baking gods at King Arthur but get used to it. I will tell you that I wasn't super excited about these muffins initially. Maybe I wasn't used to the slightly nutty wheat flavor or the banana-chocolate combination. But these muffins grow on you and by the end of the batch I didn't want them to end. I even got a little sad as I savored the last muffin and I immediately checked my freezer for overripe bananas so I could make them all over again. One nice thing to note is they keep very well. Pop them in a airtight container and five days later you can take one out, microwave it for 10-15 seconds and you have a little ball of bliss in the palm of your hand. Spread on a little butter or gild the lily with some peanut butter and Mr Muffin becomes Sir Muffin. I might add, it's a beautiful thing to see butter melting into the nooks and crannies of this humble muffin (and for the record, muffin and crannies are two of my favorite words in the English language).

Free some time in your calendar to bake these and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Edited to add for the time conscious - Because the thought of putting these together in the morning overwhelms me, I like to make the batter the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. I wake up and place the batter in a muffin tin while my coffee brews. In 20 minutes I've got fresh coffee and hot muffins; a great way to start the day.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour or traditional whole wheat flour (I use traditional)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 medium size ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt..

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Scrape bowl down then beat in the egg, spices, mashed bananas and milk. Stir dry ingredients gently into the butter-sugar mixture.

Evenly divide the batter between a 12 cup muffin tin coated with nonstick spray. Bake until a toothpick placed in the center comes out mostly clean - about 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before carefully removing them from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

I know that food posts should include a picture but we ate every last muffin. I would even say to myself, "I should take a picture" and the next thing I knew my muffin was gone. See previous post on my hedonistic tendencies.