Make the calories count. A yummy recipe for chocolate banana muffins/cupcakes.

When I read in the September issue of Cooking Light Magazine that the average calorie count for a bran muffin sold at a national chain restaurant was a whopping 420, I thought, what a waste.  It's a bran muffin, not a scoop of peanut butter and chocolate ice cream from Baskin-Robbins, which by the way, comes in at 320 calories for a 4 oz scoop!

There are better ways to "spend" calories.  Like how, you ask?  How about a rich and tasty chocolate banana muffin.  It's so good that my 4 year old daughter requests it as her "cupcake" of choice.  I like the ingredients.

Also, as you may be aware, chocolate--dark chocolate especially--has a lot going for it nutritionally.  And if you are a chocolate fan, make sure you have subscribed to the AMT Newsletter, because the next FREEBIE is, you guessed it, CHOCOLATE.  And not just any 'ol chocolate.  It's Xocai Chocolate, which is marketed as a health supplement. 

In a future article, we'll review the chocolate and dig deeper into the health claims.  But, in short, Xocai's products have a very high "ORAC Value" or antioxidant content, which means the chocolate can prevent "free radical" damage.  Research suggests that our bodies need a minimum of 3000 ORAC daily to get the antioxidant benefits.  Xocai's chocolates have been tested and all of its products are off the charts -- well over 3000.  However, keep in mind that the "science" of ORAC values is still developing and there are sceptics.

And for those who really want to learn more about chocolate, our post about the supposed "caffeine" in chocolate is a good one!

Recipe for super yummy chocolate banana muffins (or cupcakes!).  I found the recipe in Sunset Magazine -- (I create it as muffins versus bread and I eliminate the walnuts).  The Magazine notes that the recipe is from "Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta".

Ingredients

• 12 oz. unsweetened prune baby food (or you can bring 12 oz of pitted prunes to a boil in 2 cups of water and then simmer uncovered until prunes are very soft -- about 20 minutes)
• 3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas -- (2 medium)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli or Scharffen Berger)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon (highly recommend Vietnamese cinnamon)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 C banana chips coarsely chopped (I buy from the bulk section at Whole Foods)
• 1 C semisweet chocolate chips (I recommend mini chips if possible and 3/4 C is plenty)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly butter or spray muffin cups (or use paper liners)
2. In a food processor or with a hand blender combine prunes and bananas until smooth.  Add eggs and combine.
3. In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda.  Stir in banana mixture until evenly moistened.  Stir in banana chips and chocolate chips.
4. Fill up muffin cups
5. Bake until toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out a little chocolaty but not gooey.  For regular size muffins, about 30 minutes.  For mini-muffins about 22 minutes.

Nutrition

Depending upon how big you want your muffins, this recipe will yield 12 to 18 regular muffins.  The calorie count below assumes the full cup of chocolate chips.

For 12 muffins:  1 muffin is 225 calories

For 18 muffins:  150 calories

** Because I tweaked the recipe, I don't have the other nutrition information.

If you like posts like this one, visit our Athletic-Minded Traveler Blog Archives for Everything Food!

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