Egg Free Double Chocolate Banana Muffins -- Baking Through the Wait

Waiting. Jolene's due date was yesterday and nothing. Travis is jumping at every phone buzz. I told him babies come when they're ready and he was two weeks late and Hensley children arrive on their own schedule because stubbornness starts in the womb.

Cooked every day as a form of control. Biscuits and gravy Monday. Fried chicken Wednesday. Pot roast Thursday. Banana pudding Friday — Betty's real kind. Vanilla wafers layered with bananas and custard from scratch: egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, milk, stirred constantly because custard punishes you for looking away. Meringue on top, browned in the oven. Ninety minutes and three pans and the kind of attention better spent on something productive, except there is nothing more productive than banana pudding when you're fifty-five and waiting for your first grandchild.

Drove to Evarts Sunday. Betty's quilt is almost done — beautiful in the way homemade things are, not perfect but specific. She said she can feel the baby coming. I said that's not how biology works. She said Craig Allen, I've had six children and twelve grandchildren and I know when a baby is coming. I did not argue.

The banana pudding was Betty’s recipe — scratch custard, meringue, the whole ninety-minute production — and it did exactly what it was supposed to do: gave my hands something to care about while my head stayed elsewhere. When Sunday came and went and still no call from Travis, I found three more bananas going soft on the counter and decided one more banana thing couldn’t hurt. These muffins are simpler than pudding, no eggs required, and they come together fast enough that you can have a dozen cooling on the rack before the next phone buzz even arrives.

Egg Free Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 22 min | Total Time: 37 min | Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup milk (dairy or unsweetened non-dairy)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus extra for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease well with cooking spray.
2. Mash the bananas. In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas thoroughly with a fork until nearly smooth — a few small lumps are fine and add texture.
3. Mix wet ingredients. Whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla into the mashed bananas until the mixture is uniform and the sugars have mostly dissolved.
4. Add dry ingredients. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt directly over the wet mixture. Stir gently with a spatula until just combined — do not overmix or the muffins will turn tough.
5. Fold in chocolate chips. Stir in the 1/2 cup chocolate chips with a few slow folds. The batter will be thick.
6. Fill and top. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Press a few extra chocolate chips onto the top of each muffin.
7. Bake. Bake for 20–22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with only moist crumbs (not wet batter). Do not overbake — they continue to set as they cool.
8. Cool. Let muffins rest in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Best eaten slightly warm or at room temperature the same day, though they keep well wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 215 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 175mg