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.