Banana & Zucchini Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips

These muffins have it all: whole grains, fruit, vegetable and chocolate, what more could you want?? They are moist because of the bananas and coconut oil and they are tender and flaky because of the addition of a little sour cream, you can substitute yogurt but I needed to use up some, getting ready to expire, sour cream. The combination of bananas, zucchini and dark chocolate is perfect...sweet, a little bit savory with pops of rich, chocolatey goodness. I didn't add any extra sugar into these muffins, I used a bit of honey and the sweetness of the overripe bananas is more than enough, so they are super healthy and great "grab and go" breakfast option. Make a double batch and freeze them to eat all week or month long!

I adapted this recipe from another fellow blogger, her recipe is low fat (and I am sure just wonderful) but I personally don't like using low fat ingredients and I also hate using just the whites of an egg, what the heck do you do with the leftover yolk? I know you can make lots of things with yolk, but lets be realistic, after making muffins who wants to bother with something else, mine end up sitting in the fridge till they go bad. I did include a link if you are wanting a recipe that is lower fat, but these muffins are small so you will most certainly burn the fat off by mid-day, and they are loaded with so many healthy ingredients, the fat is really a non-issue for me. I prefer having a full fat (healthy fat) muffin that satisfies me rather than a lower-fat one that just ends up with me eating something else in 30 minutes, to satisfy cravings...just my opinion.

Makes 12 medium size muffins.
Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen, Skinny Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Ingredients

1 Cup unbleached, organic all purpose flour, mine has the germ on so it has more nutrients. Whole wheat flour can be substituted.

1/2 Cup wheat germ

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp organic ground cinnamon

3 Small, fair trade, overripe bananas, mashed.

3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted.

1/4 Cup local honey

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 Medium, farm raised eggs, beaten.

1 Cup organic zucchini, shredded, about 1 medium one.

1/4 Cup pasture raised sour cream, yogurt can be used.

1/2 Cup dark chocolate, fair trade mini chips, I like mini because they distribute evenly in small muffins.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a muffin tin with liners.

In a clean kitchen towel, squeeze out the excess liquid from the zucchini, and then let hang over a bowl in a fine mesh strainer while you prepare the rest of the muffins, this is a critical step.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Whisk to combine and break up lumps.

In another bowl combine the bananas, honey, vanilla, eggs and sour cream. Mix well and then add wet to dry and mix just to incorporate, do not over mix. Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips carefully.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into the muffin cups evenly, it might overflow them, this is fine. Bake for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown and spring back to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving, they will fall apart if you try to remove them while super hot.

Serve with butter or a nice fall pumpkin butter would be wonderful!