Strawberry Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips

This seems so weird since it is hailing/slushing as I write, but strawberry season is on its way. I'm getting a head start by working through my last few bags of frozen strawberries from last summer.

Normally I dismiss recipes that bake strawberries. They are clearly popular because I see a whole bunch of them racing around cyberspace, but they're just not my thing. Generally when you bake strawberries into a bread, muffin, cookie, or whatever, they turn into a squishy (booger-esque) blob that at some point you are forced to bite into (say it isn't so). Which is why I didn't re-pin this recipe when I saw it on my sister's board. But then she had to go and rave about it, so then I had to go and try it. I did, however, cut my strawberries into tiny bits--a move I did not regret. Next time I might even go and puree the derned things. But even with my un-love of baked strawberries, these really were butt-kickingly good. (I did add chocolate chips to half of them; we have that issue around here). Kip ate one just because they were there and he was hungry. He ate it not expecting to like it due to the fact that it was not brown and chocolatey looking like most things he likes. Then he proceeded to eat a whole bunch. I'm not gonna lie: it surprised me. My picky husband snarfing down on the banana, strawberry, yogurt muffins. Will wonders never cease?

And while I'm discussing Kip and, tangentially, chocolate (they always go together, don't they), I should say that the chocolate chips really added a bit of a wow factor to these as well as provide a little bite to an otherwise smooth muffin (oh, I just love the bite of a chocolate chip in a smooth muffin, yes I do).

You know what else? These are even better the second day.

There's still quite a bit of experimenting I wish to do. I want to try them with whole wheat (or part whole wheat). I want to add some oats to experiment with texture. I want to puree the strawberries. But for now, I give you this: a very solid, surprisingly delicious recipe that will let you love some of the bounty the coming spring promises.

Strawberry Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips 
adapted from Closet Cooking
Makes 12 large muffins (or 12 regular muffins and 8 random mini muffins, which is what I ended up with)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 12-15 minutes
Cost: $3.20 or about $.25 per muffin
flour: .20, sugar: .20, bananas: .40, eggs: .10, yogurt: .40, strawberries: 1.00, chocolate chips: .90)

1 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C brown sugar
3 large, rip bananas (mashed)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C plain yogurt (recipe called for Greek; I used regular, but it was full-fat)
1 C strawberries, sliced
1 C chocolate chips, optional but nice

Mix flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. (Note: I should confess that I ALWAYS skip this step and just toss the dry ingredients in after my wet ones are ready.)

Mash your bananas. You can leave the strawberries sliced, but if you--like me--don't like the squishies, I recommend chopping them into tiny bits or even pureeing them.

Mix brown sugar, bananas, strawberries, eggs, vanilla, and yogurt in a large bowl.

Add dry to wet. Mix until combined. Add 1 C chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Drop into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (You can also make a large 9x5 inch loaf if you'd prefer--cook 50-60 minutes.

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