Secretly Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Who doesn’t like chocolate, peanut butter, bananas, or Nutella? These simple, delicious muffins combine all three in a perfect harmony of flavors. These Secretly Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Butter Banana Muffins are a wonderful snack for young children, a delicious breakfast bread, an easy quick bread, or a simple after-dinner dessert. Sweet and delicious enough to be a delectable dessert. But shh!!! They’re actually healthy.
When I was young, my mom lovingly labored in the kitchen over Banana Tea Bread. (Try that wonderful recipe here.)
I always tried to sneak a few licks of batter, and occasionally my mom would save a spatula (or the bowl – hallelujah!) for me. It was heavenly.
And while Banana Tea Bread still holds a place dear in my heart (as all childhood favorite recipes do), it now runs a close second to the subject of today’s post: Loaded Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Muffins.
Because who could resist chocolate….especially when it is also healthy for you?
HOW CAN YOU MAKE HEALTHY MUFFINS?
These muffins hold an additional draw to them: They are (mostly) healthy.
You read that right: Healthy dessert muffins. They are basically cupcakes in my book.
Could it be true?
Because they require very little sugar and are naturally sweetened with bananas and applesauce, these muffins pass as a semi-health food.
Of course, they cannot be totally healthy. Some sugar and Nutella have to sneak in there.
HOW DO YOU MAKE HEALTHY BANANA BREAD MUFFINS?
As noted above, the secret to making more healthful banana bread is subbing out the sweetener for natural sweeteners. Anytime you can add a sweet fruit (apples, bananas, some pears, etc.), you can lessen the amount of sugar required for the recipe.
This recipe uses both of the most common natural sweeteners: applesauce and bananas.
HOW DO YOU MAKE HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE?
I will be making a post all about easy homemade applesauce shortly. Until then, suffice it to say that homemade applesauce is truly easy, if you have the right supplies.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE APPLESAUCE?
A vegetable steamer (it’s also possible to simply boil the apples) and a blender.
HOW CAN YOU BAKE DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE MUFFINS?
Always mix the dry ingredients together before adding them to the wet ingredients. This ensures that you will not bite into a lump of baking soda or baking powder later. The even taste and texture that results for separate pre-mixing of ingredients is well worth the extra bowl to wash and extra effort.
CLOSING THOUGHTS ON SECRETLY HEALTHY CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BANANA MUFFINS
Banana bread and sweets in general do not have to be a guilty pleasure. These muffins are the perfect example of how natural sweeteners can rescue otherwise sugary foods.
When you give this recipe a try, I would love to see your results! Make sure to tag @myhomeyourhomeourhome on Instagram and leave a comment below to share any tips, tricks, or hacks you found while baking.
Chat with you soon,
Secretly Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Who doesn’t like chocolate, peanut butter, bananas, or Nutella? These simple, delicious muffins combine all three in a perfect harmony of flavors. These Secretly Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Butter Banana Muffins are a wonderful snack for young children, a delicious breakfast bread, an easy quick bread, or a simple after-dinner dessert. Sweet and delicious enough to be a delectable dessert. But shh!!! They're actually healthy.
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp peanut butter
- 3 Tbsp Nutella ((optional – omit for an even healthier recipe))
- 2 cups mashed bananas ((very ripe works best — I keep very ripe bananas in the freezer and just pull them out to thaw before beginning the recipe))
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease (or line) a 12-muffin pan.
Mix together the eggs, brown sugar, applesauce, vanilla, peanut butter, and Nutella in a medium-sized bowl. Add mashed bananas.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Do not overstir; just mix until the dry mixture is incorporated.
Pour the muffin batter into the muffin pan, filling each muffin well up to almost the top. Bake for 15 minutes or until the muffins test done. (When you insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin, it should come out with crumbs or only slightly dirty. I like to underbake my muffins slightly so that they are extra moist. Muffins baked this way will not store well past the second day…but the muffins in this recipe don’t usually escape getting scarfed down in the first few hours anyway.)
These sound delicious! Can’t wait to try them!