Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins

Today it started pouring rain just as I was getting my things to leave from work.  I never look at the weather forecast, and thus I never have an umbrella.  I waited at the entrance for as long as I could bear, and then I gave up and embraced the rain.  I'm from a desert, so it isn't difficult for me to appreciate precipitation.

I went camping at Shenandoah National Park over Labor Day weekend and needed a quick and healthy breakfast.  I found a recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip muffins and made a few adjustments.  I added a banana, vanilla, and salt.  I omitted 2 tablespoons of chia seeds because I didn’t want to buy a bag of chia seeds I’ll never use again.

The ingredients are 6 tablespoons butter, ½ cup sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 banana, ½ cup old-fashioned oats, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup milk, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and ¾ cup chocolate chips.

I began by creaming the butter and sugar together.  

I then mashed the banana, added it to the creamed butter and sugar, and stirred.   

I then combined the oats, baking powder, whole wheat flour, and salt together in a separate bowl.

I combined the milk, eggs, and vanilla.  I don’t really think you need to do this in a separate bowl.  You could just add these to the creamed butter and sugar.

I thoroughly stirred the eggy milk and butter mixture together.  At this point, you can stir the muffin batter vigorously.  

I then added the flour mixture to the liquids.   I stirred a little bit, maybe 6 large stirs.  

I added the chocolate chips and stirred sparingly again, maybe six more stirs.

I spooned the batter into a lined muffin tin.  I filled the liners over 3/4 full.  I baked for 20 minutes at a 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

 These were good, but be warned: they looked and tasted “healthy.”  I am glad I added the banana because I think the muffins would have been too dry without it.  I could hardly tell there was any oatmeal in the muffins as well, which could be good for some people.