Early bird gets the muffin

5:11 a.m.  That's what time my 4 year old was up this morning.  Dang time change....  I knew this was coming!

Anyhow, as the old saying goes, when life hands you ripe bananas and an extra hour in the day, you make banana muffins!  However...I am trying to lose about 5 pounds before the holidays start, so I had to make these HEALTHY and DELICIOUS and that, my friends, is what they are!  I'll include the recipe below... 

Here's how I spent the first lovely hours of daylight darkness this morning:

I *think* these are ready to be mashed.... ;)

Note the time on the clock:  6:44 AM  I'd already been up for an hour and a half, people!
also....using whole wheat flour and flax seed!  Don't be afraid...your kids will never know....they are incredibly tasty!

Kitchen Tip #243:  use an ice cream scoop to put batter into the muffin pan.  No mess! Perfectly portioned! I'm so excited!!!!

Batch 1 out of the oven by 7:22 AM.  I have a group of eager taste testers at the ready.

YUM.  I made a double batch so we are going to be snacking on these for a while.  They freeze well...put them in a ziplock baggie and pull them out one at a time--defrost in the microwave for about 30 seconds and you have a warm HEALTHY muffin to snack on!

HEALTHY BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

2 ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup flax seed (milled)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Combine flour, flax seed, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the bananas, eggs, brown sugar, applesauce, and vanilla.

Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture--a little at a time.  Stir until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes.

yield:  18 muffins

Source:  K Mickelsen, M Douthit