banana chocolate chip muffins

As I write this, it is the evening on Halloween. I think the kids are almost done collecting candy, or maybe they just gave up on my house because I was in the kitchen testing a recipe (a gluten free vegan orange cranberry loaf, stay tuned!). I promise I was listening for the doorbell, but I’m sure the “trick or treat” yells got lost in the noise of the Hitchcock film playing in my living room.

I’m not a big fan of Halloween, but it is always nice to have something to do. Yet, I spent this Halloween alone. I wasn’t really looking forward to that, but I also didn’t want to go out. I swear I will never win with my brain, staying in can be depressing, but who has the energy to go out?   Not to mention the fact that there is an expectation to dress up on Halloween. Do pajamas count? Of course they don’t. So of course I stayed in.

There is also the fact that my doctor’s appointment tomorrow is looming over my head. I’m actually already exhausted from it and it hasn’t even happened yet! When I made the appointment, I had the energy to discuss what was going on in my mind. In fact, I wanted to tell everyone. But right now all I can think about is sleep. I’m in a comfortable state of depression and the thought of leaving that comfort zone to discuss what happened the past two weeks doesn’t sound all that appealing. I lived it, must I live it again?

Something that is keeping me going is the thought that it will soon be snowing and I’ll have a weekend off. I’ll wake up early, bake these banana chocolate chip muffins, put the coffee on, and curl up by the fireplace with a good book while the snow slowly falls outside. Does that not sound perfect?

I wanted to share this recipe before the first snowfall, so you too can wake up early on a snowy Sunday morning and feel all the cozy feels.

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 banana chocolate chip muffins

makes 12 jumbo muffins
active time: 10 minutes  ~ total time: 55 minutes

These muffins are vegan and gluten free, and you wouldn’t even know!  They’re moist, full of chocolate chips, and have the fresh from the bakery look.  They taste best eaten the day they’re baked, and I suggest eating them on a Sunday morning in bed with coffee and cat cuddles!

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp xantham gum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 almond milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (appx. 3 large bananas)
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
4. Fold in the mashed bananas and the chocolate chips.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  While the oven preheats, let the muffin batter rest and line a muffin pan with liners.
6. Bake for 28 minutes, or until a knife inserted into a muffin comes out clean.