Three browning bananas.  Only one egg.  Out of sucanat.  Oh no.  I was planning on making my go-to banana bread tonight and realized that I am short on eggs and out of my sweetener.   Time to experiment and cross my fingers.  I found this recipe and saw that it was possible to create a baked banana bread given my circumstances.  I got excited and I got out my mixer.  I took the base recipe and tweaked it.  I used white whole wheat flour, I used an extra banana, added coconut oil, cinnamon, dark chocolate chips and made some other minor adjustments as you will see below.  I chose to make muffins as they are nice and portable for the kids lunches or to grab and go.  I was quite pleased with the end product and very pleased that I was able to use maple syrup as a sweetener!!!  I love that white sugar does not dictate whether I can bake some good ole’ muffins!

As a last second decision, I threw in a 1/4 cup of chia seeds, just to see what would happen.  I wasn’t sure if it would have negative affect on the end product but I am happy to report their addition is awesome!  You see, I have been somewhat fascinated with chia seeds of late, as a lot of people are.  I bought some a few weeks ago, not knowing exactly what to do with them.  I had read about their benefits, including the omega 3 aspect, that they help balance blood sugar, and are a great source of a complete protein.  (they also help you feel full longer and may stave off snacking…)  Until now I had just been throwing some into my yogurt and smoothies but hadn’t used them for any baked goods.

Preheat oven to 350º

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 3 ripe bananas
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups of white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips (optional)

Melt butter and coconut oil on stove.  Pour melted butter & coconut oil into mixing bowl.  Add maple syrup.  Beat in the egg and bananas (until they are just small chunks remaining.)  Add milk.  In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients (except chia seeds & chocolate chips.)  Stir dry ingredients into banana mixture a little at a time until moistened.  Add chia seeds and chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed.  Pour into muffin pan.  Makes 12-15 muffins.  Bake for 20 minutes and cool a few minutes before placing on wire rack.