Healthy Chocolate Banana Nut Muffins

I added the word “healthy” to this recipe, because you may see the word “chocolate” and jump to the conclusion that this recipe is laden with sugar and fat. NOT! This muffin boasts of nutrition all the way! There is no white flour or white sugar in these muffins and yet they are sooooooo good and quite addictive, I must warn you.

I had six very over-ripe bananas as you can see! The rest of the ingredients include, honey, oil (not shown) eggs, unsweetened applesauce (not shown), whole wheat pastry flour, oat bran, cocoa powder, salt, soda, vanilla, nutmeg, pecan pieces and Mila or ground chia seeds.

In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher then mix in the honey, egg, cocoa powder, oil and applesauce. Add the flour, oat bran,  cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pecans and Mila over the banana mixture. Mix lightly with a rubber spatula to combine.

  The batter should be just moistened but still a little clumpy. Don’t over mix! 

Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter between the lightly sprayed muffin cups.

Bake them in a 375 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer them to a rack to cool.

These are deadly warm from the oven…however, this batch makes 24 muffins so even if you snitched a few warm ones, you will still have plenty for the family.

These freeze beautifully, so you can see that I am saving most of these for the grandkids when they come over. This grandma doesn’t have a cookie jar, but I usually have some healthy muffins in the freezer for the kiddies!

Healthy Chocolate Banana Nut Muffins

6 very ripe bananas
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. light olive oil
2 eggs
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce (I used a small baby food jar)
2  1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. oat bran
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. Mila (chia seed)

In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher then mix in the honey, egg, cocoa powder, oil and applesauce. Add the flour, oat bran,  cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pecans and Mila over the banana mixture. Mix lightly with a rubber spatula to combine. The batter should be just moistened but still a little clumpy. Don’t over mix! Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter between the lightly sprayed muffin cups. Bake in 375 oven for about 15- 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer them to a rack to cool.