Healthy No Sugar Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I'm not going to lie, I'm really proud of this recipe.

That's not to say that I am un proud of my other recipes and that is also not to say that I completely devised this recipe myself. However, this is my first baking recipe that I have tested, tasted, tweaked, and transformed. I call it the magical Four T's. After all, what recipe hasn't been tested numerous time to be perfected. I figured I would play around with this recipe for banana chocolate chunk muffins until I got it just right.

My Dad has recently gone an extreme health kick which led to him passing out in the bathroom the other day. We all tried to explain to him that you must in fact eat, but he is going extreme. Since smacking his head on the tile floor and ending up in the ER, he decided to give carbs another chance. Of all the food groups, I definitely think carbs get a bad rap. Unless you're Michael Scott preparing for a 5k, but downing a pound of fettucine alfredo, the first thing people cross off their list when dieting is usually carbs. I get it. I really do. We can set aside the Cheesecake factory loaf of magical brown sweet bread. That probably will be beneficial, but we shouldn't be ignoring them completely. The doctor in the ER told my dad that carbs are essential to absorbing water and staying hydrated. This got me to thinking that we shouldn't say adios to carbs completely when dieting. Especially when it comes to muffins and breakfast items in general.

There are a lot of substitutes in this recipe. For example, we skip butter. Through eliminating butter, we already are making up for the fact that there is a measly cup of whole wheat flour involved. Instead of butter, we opt for coconut oil, and just a quarter cup. To help keep the muffins, moist I used a 1 cup of plain greek yogurt. Plain greek yogurt is always burning a hole in my refrigerator and taking up space. I was glad to use the leftovers of my big jug in this recipe. Super ripe bananas are super sweet, and make up for the fact that we are scraping the sugar. 1/4 cup of honey combined with the bananas is enough to bring in the needed sweetness. If you don't have whole wheat flour, don't sweat it. You can definitely substitute all purpose flour for the 1 cup of whole wheat flour. I topped these muffins off with some chocolate chunks because come on...we gotta indulge a little bit.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 egg
1/4 honey or maple syrup
1/4 melted coconut oil
1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line am muffin tin with 12 liners and grease the liners with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together the egg, banana, and greek yogurt. Add in oats, honey (or maple syrup) and coconut oil. Blend until the mixture is fully combined. Stir in the wet ingredients in to the dry ingredients. Stir until everything is incorporate. Fold in the chocolate pieces. Pour batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. Top with leftover oats or sliced bananas. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.