Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Someone around me mentioned they had a hankering fo banana muffins, so I whipped these up.  I made them a little fancier than normal by piping chocolate on top and putting nuts on it.  The extra chocolate was deeeeeelicious and the nuts made it nicely crunchy.  I don't usually have any luck with muffins and this time was no exception - I had it all mixed up and ready to put in the pan when I realized I had forgotten no fewer then four ingredients.  I was sure they weren't going to turn out, but I added what was missing and they were totally fine.  So, if you stress about muffins, don't worry about these, they're very forgiving.

In small bowl, blend bananas, melted margarine, milk, eggs and vanilla.

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just mixed.  It's right about here I realized I was missing ingredients, so do a double-check to make sure you've got everything, but don't panic if you missed some!

Fill muffin cups.  Bake for 18 to 22 minutes at 375F, or until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let stand several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool

Once your muffins are cool they should look something like this. They're totally delicious like this, but the chocolate kicks it up a notch.  Make sure your muffins are completely cooled  before proceeding to next steps.

Heat chocolate chips reserved for topping in a double boiler until mostly melted.  You don't want to get it too hot because in order to pipe the topping you'll have to put it into a plastic bag, so just melt it until it's lumpy, remove from heat and stir until smooth.

Trying to get things into piping bags used to be a nightmare for me until I discovered this simple solution.  Put the zip loc bag into a tall glass with one point towards the bottom.  Spoon melted chocolate into the bag.  Seal the bag once finished, or else you'll get chocolate all over your hands when you try to squeeze it out to decorate. Clip the corner 1-2 millimetres wide and use the bag to pipe the chocolate design on to each muffin.  While chocolate is still liquid, add nuts.   Store in sealed container, unrefridgerated, to retain maximum moistness.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 4 large)
1/2 cup (1 stick/4oz/113g) butter or stick margarine, melted
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Topping:
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup nuts of your choice


adapted from: Diane's Desserts