Banana Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins

Talk about feeling foolish ... I had every intention of entering last week's Blogger's Secret Ingredient Challenge (BSI). The secret ingredient, as chosen by Christina of Dinner at Christina's, was sour cream. Wonderful, I love sour cream. I knew right away that I wanted to bake something and I bought all of the ingredients to do so on Sunday.

I did not, however, make careful note of the challenge entry deadline. It was midnight on Sunday ... and I had planned to bake the muffins on Monday. Oops! No wonder I've never participated in BSI, I can't seem to get my act together!

And, meanwhile, I've got a bunch of bananas ripening on my counter and a tub of sour cream in the fridge. Let's get to it, shall we?

Better Late Than Never Banana Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder, optional
• 3 ripe bananas, peeled
• 1 cup of reduced fat sour cream
• 1 stick of butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and Chinese Five Spice Powder. Whisk well with a wire whisk to combine and set aside.

2. Break the bananas into thirds and place the in the bowl of your food processor, pulse until chopped. Add 1 cup of sour cream to the bananas and process until combined and smooth. Reserve. (Alternately, you could mash bananas with a fork and whisk in the sour cream by hand.)

3. Using an standing electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well until light and fluffy.

4. Add the flour mixture by thirds, alternating with the banana mixture, beating only until blended, until all of the dry and wet ingredients have been added. Do not over beat. Add the mini chocolate chips and fold-in to incorporate, using a rubber spatula.

5. Grease a large muffin tin with butter and fill each cup 3/4 of the way up with batter. Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for 18 - 22 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked throughout. Baking time will vary depending on the speed of your oven. The muffins are cooked when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack. Serve warm.

As written, this recipe will yield 18 muffins.

While I may not have made them in time for the BSI challenge, I'm exceedingly glad I made these muffins period. They are spectacular! Moist, tender, just-sweet-enough, and full of that oh-so-luscious chocolate/banana flavor. They're so good I could smack myself!

As always, you should feel free to vary the choice of flour according to your needs. You can use 2 cups of all-purpose white flour, or any combination of the above. In addition, you may also choose to use 1/2 cup of agave nectar, in place of the sugar. If so, bake the muffins at 325 degrees F and begin checking for done-ness at 15 to 18 minutes.

The origin of these muffins is unclear. I found the recipe on a scrap of paper in my battered old recipe box and I've changed it up a bit by reducing the amount of sugar, using reduced fat sour cream and adding the spices. As far as the spices go, feel free to experiment. I love the subtle hint of warmth the Chinese Five Spice brings to the mix and cinnamon is always a must for me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

So, do you bake with sour cream? If so, what's your favorite way to include it? Hungry Diva wants to know.

Bon appetite!