Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Oh, what a day, what a day.

My little Lydia is beyond fussy, tonight. She has got to be getting teeth. If she's not, then she's turning into a demon. I'm really hoping for the former. I already have one (arguably two) demon children. Just PLEASE let this one turn out well-behaved! .. Yeah right. Ha!

I wasn't going to bake, today. I really wasn't. I told myself when I got up this morning.

But, boredom got the best of me & then my son begged me for a banana.
(Read out of context, that sentence is hilarious, by the way)

When I realized that the bananas we had were horribly brown & squishy, I told him I could do better than give him a banana. I could give him a banana muffin. Not just a banana muffin, but a banana chocolate chip muffin.. With streusel topping!

They were easy to make & my kids thought it was absolutely hilarious that I mashing up bananas. They just couldn't understand the concept & they thought I was insane. Although, I probably did seem just a little bit unbalanced as I was mashing up bananas with a fork & singing, "Asanta sana, squash banana!"
 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

with a crunchy streusel topping

What you need:

-1 1/2 cups of flour
-2/3 cup of sugar
-1/2 of a packet of instant vanilla pudding mix
-1 1/2tsp baking powder
-1/2tsp baking soda
-1/4tsp salt
-1 cup of mashed bananas (I used 3 smaller sized ones)
-1 egg
-1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter or margarine; melted
-1/2 cup of milk
-1/4tsp of vanilla extract
-1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda & salt together. In a smaller bowl, whisk together egg, melted butter, milk, mashed bananas & vanilla extract. Add to you dry ingredients & mix by hand with a wooden spoon or whisk. You don't want to over beat the batter. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into muffin tin of your choice (I did a dozen normal sized muffins & a dozen mini muffins) 3/4 full. Top with streusel topping (see recipe below).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

My mini-muffins were done in 10 minutes. My regular size muffins were done in about 22 minutes.

Crunchy Streusel Topping

What you need:

-1/2 cup of oatmeal
-2/3 cup of flour
-2/3 cup of brown sugar
-1/2tsp of cinnamon
-1/3 cup of walnuts of pecans; finely chopped (I used pecans)
-1/2 cup of melted butter or margarine

What you do:

Mix your dry ingredients & then pour melted butter over top & stir until the consistency resembles coarse crumbs.

The perfect breakfast muffin! They are so good- my 4yr old & 2yr old ate all but 3 of the mini muffins after I made them.

Enjoy!

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

Time for a little trip down memory lane.

Every single year- up into my early twenties- once the first snow fell & every day thereafter, I would pop a big ole' bag of popcorn & drink a giant mug of cocoa. I would cozy up in my special corner of the couch with a blanket & stare out the big picture window in the den. It was my happy place.

Cut to the present. I picked up my oldest from preschool shortly after noon (looking fly in my sweatpants). The snow was falling & it was windy & downright bone-chillingly cold out. We got into the house & I longed for a mug of cocoa. But I knew if I tried to sit down & enjoy a moment of peace, all hell would break loose. So instead, I popped in a movie & let the kids cozy up. & I decided, on a whim, to bake something. Cocoa related, of course.

I did a little searching online & found a few ideas to go off of. What follows is all that transpired..

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

with homemade buttercream icing

 Here's what you need:

- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 1 2/3 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup of cocoa powder (I used instant cocoa mix)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon of salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cups of milk
- 1/3 + 1tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2tbsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 super hot water

Here's what you do:

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together your sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda & salt.

In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together egg, milk, oil & vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients & mix on low for 5 minutes (if you have an electric hand mixer & not a stand mixer, you're in for a real treat.. not). Gradually add the hot water & mix until combined. The batter will seem kind of thin, but that's okay.

Pour your batter into coffee mugs & place them on a baking sheet.

I used 4 coffee mugs & had a little batter left over, so I got out my muffin pan & poured the leftover batter into 4 of the "slots" for the kids. I played around with these a bit. I added a few mini-marshmallows & some chocolate chips to the batter. Just to see how they'd turn out.

Bake for 25-30min or until the center feels firm & a toothpick inserted comes out clean! The cupcakes in the muffin tin will take less time than those in the coffee mugs. Roughly around 15-20min.

Set aside & cool completely.

In the meantime, you can make the buttercream icing.

Homemade Buttercream Icing

What you need:

- 4 cups of confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup of margarine (two sticks)
- 1tsp of vanilla extract
- 1/2tsp of salt
- 4-6oz of heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup of whipped topping (optional- I use it because for me, without it, the frosting is way too sweet!)

What you do:

In a medium to large bowl, cream margarine until it's fluffy. Then you add in the sugar one cup at a time until well blended. Add in vanilla, salt & whipping cream. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Then beat on high speed until frosting is fluffy. If you are adding in whipped topping, add it now & fold into frosting.

*This frosting needs to be refrigerated! & It will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge*

After you've licked the beaters.. & the spoon.. & the bowl.. & dipped your finger directly into the icing numerous times & now that you have a massive stomach ache from excessive sugar consumption.. It is time to decorate your cupcakes! Use as much (or little- but c'mon, who are you trying to fool?) as you'd like. Throw on some chocolate sprinkles & a few marshmallows (I put my marshmallows on first & put them under the broiler for like, 3 minutes) & voila! It's like a tall glass of hot cocoa in cake form. Which is, obviously, the best form. & If you want to indulge yourself even more-so, then go ahead & pop a bag of buttered popcorn, sprinkle some cocoa powder over it & add some chocolate sprinkles. Cozy up on your couch & let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.