Maggie Monday: Chocolate Banana Muffins

It is that time of week again, we have Maggie with us. For those who have not been long-term readers of the blog, Maggie is not only a long-time friend, but a former boss (25 years ago) who is a superwoman in her own right. So without further delay, here’s Maggie….

This is a Tyler Florence recipe from Tyler’s Ultimate. I always have a freezer full of bananas, so am willing to try most recipes that call for ripe bananas. And this one has chocolate in it, so, really- no brainer. Done and done.

The recipe is actually for a loaf, but we were heading to a horse show, so I made them as muffins to simply life. However, I thought they were a little bland, so I made a chocolate ganache glaze. That made life a little more exciting. Yum.

This made enough for the horse show, with a few left over for the office. Lots of happy folks!

Chocolate Banana Muffins

What you need:

Muffins:

½ cup  butter, softened

2 cups all purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 1.2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted (I used chocolate chips, melted in microwave)

2 eggs

3 very ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

Ganache

8 ounces chocolate chips

½ cup heavy cream

½ tsp instant coffee granules

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in muffin tins. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Using a mixer, cream the butter until lightened, then beat in the melted chocolate, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients just until combined.

Fill each cup about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool. When cool, make the ganache by placing cream in a microwave safe bowl and heating for about a minute, until hot. Stir in chocolate chips, and blend until melted. You might need to zap it in microwave a few seconds. Add vanilla.

Place a piece of wax paper under a cooling rack. Put muffins on rack, then drizzle with ganache. Allow ganache to set and harden a bit before storing or serving.