Banana chocolate chip muffins - chiffon style

These muffins are a great little sweet treat for the morning or any time of day.  A cross between muffin and chiffon cake, they are not very sweet and a bit like a lightened up banana muffin.  Chocolate chips complement the banana flavor and add a nice richness.

I wanted to try this recipe because I adore a good banana muffin and anything with chocolate (this banana bread is the perfect example of that greatness)!  A recipe that starts off that way is bound to be good.  But the thing that really intrigued me was the chiffon cake slant to these because chiffon cake is one of my favorite everyday cakes to eat!

Originally, this recipe makes banana chocolate chip cupcakes.  The line between cupcakes and muffins can be blurry but I think it's fair to call these muffins because I've omitted the original chocolate cream cheese frosting from them.  And like other muffin or quick bread batters, most of the ingredients are simply combined together in a bowl.  To get the airy, signature chiffon cake texture, you do whip egg whites separately and fold it into the batter.  That extra effort gives you a fluffy chiffon cake-muffin, with all the delicious banana muffin fragrance and flavor you're used to.

The recipe comes from the Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.  If you watch Paula Deen, you might be familiar with this bakery and its owners based in Savannah.  I really like the visuals, the layout, of this cookbook.  It has a clean, easy-to-read, retro yet contemporary feel to it.

These muffins have less sugar in them than many other banana muffin recipes and not a lot of oil either (though the result is still moist yet light).  I like them just like that, as a breakfast sweet or a mid-afternoon or even after dinner treat.

The chocolate chips add another great flavor and a little texture without needing frosting, in my opinion.  I used mini chocolate chips so that there's a bit in every bite.  I also did that because of how well they work in the double chocolate muffins I discovered a few months ago (those muffins are sooo good and easy to make; I've been making them whenever we want a simple chocolate cake fix).

There's only one problem with these banana chiffon muffins: they taste so light, you can easily put away 2 or 3 at a time!  It's a good thing the full recipe makes 2 dozen.  I divided the recipe in half but the three of us had no problems polishing off our dozen in no time.  I was good and only had one per sitting.  I cannot say the same for my husband.

For these chiffon cake based muffins, we use the more delicate cake flour.  Most of the ingredients are combined together in a large mixing bowl, with the added step of incorporating egg whites at the end to lighten up the texture of the whole thing.  

The recipe calls for a little cream of tartar but you should have no problems whipping the egg whites to nice glossy stiff peaks with the sugar alone.  The chocolate chips go in at the end, too.  Since we're omitting the frosting, you might want to go a little heavy-handed on the chocolate chips!

You'll notice the actual recipe (below) makes a generous 2 dozen muffins.  I divided the recipe in half, a little tricky given the need to work with half an egg white but absolutely do-able.  I filled my muffin cups closer to three-quarters as opposed to two-thirds full and I'm glad I did because they puffed up with a nice round dome and there were no spillovers.  Mine were done right at the 20 minute mark so check early.  Unfortunately, you do not get a crusty/crunchy muffin top with these.

One last thing: If you take a close look, you'll see I used foil and white paper liners for these muffins.  Do you know how the Reynolds foil liners come with these white paper liners that separate each of them?  I always threw the paper ones out thinking they were just dividers.  One day, as my supply of cupcake liners started dwindling, I wondered about that... Turns out, those white "dividers" are just paper liners, the same kind that you buy separately in pastel colors!!  Maybe I'm the last person to realize this but I know there'll be no more wasted liners in my house from now on! 


Recipe:

Banana Chocolate-Chip Chiffon Muffins

Adapted from Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

- Makes 24 standard-size muffins -

2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 large egg white
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (from about 2 1/2 large bananas)
Rounded 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use the miniature kind by Ghirardelli)

Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line standard size cupcake/muffin tins with 24 liners. 

In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Give it a whisk to combine and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tartar (if using) until frothy.  Gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, a little at a time, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.  It should look like a glossy meringue.  Set aside.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Add half of the buttermilk, the oil, vanilla, and mashed bananas and stir together for 1-2 minutes, until ingredients are thoroughly combined (I used a wooden spoon).  Add the egg yolks and the rest of the buttermilk, stirring until just combined.  Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped egg whites and then the chocolate chips.

With a large ice cream scoop or spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them each about two-thirds to three-quarters full.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (there will be some melted chocolate on the tester from the chips).  

Remove from the oven and let cool a few minutes before transferring the muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature.  In my experience, they were still moist after 3 days.