Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Streusel Topping

I'm not good at cupcakes. I can't make frosting and I can't decorate so my specialty is muffins. Plus...even if you are on a diet, you can justify a muffin. It's breakfast people...and everyone needs breakfast.

I like sending muffins to work with my husband, even though he doesn't like to draw attention to himself.

My daughter is a natural cook and she loves to watch The Rachael Ray show.  It's probably a good thing that we don't have cable so that she can't watch The Food Network because she is always finding recipes for me to make.  Did I mention that my little chef turns 4 years old in 2 weeks?

This recipe is from The Rachael Ray website.  We were looking for a recipe for waffles when we found this.  I tweaked it a little and it made 24 average sized muffins.

My son, did I mention that I'm going to have two 4 year olds in 2 weeks?  My son loved these and told me that they are the best muffins I've ever made.  I think it was the chocolate chips that swayed his vote.

We'll find out what the team at Double Encore thinks about them tomorrow.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Streusel Topping
adapted from Rachael Ray and Plan B Mom

For the streusel topping:
1/2 cup flour
5 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For the muffins:
1 cup sour cream
2 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into pieces
1/2 cup chocolate chips


Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or line with muffin cups.

To make the streusel, combine flour, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and chocolate chips until well blended. Set aside.

To make the muffins, in a large bowl, combine the bananas and sour cream. Add the cinnamon, ginger, salt, vanilla, egg and brown sugar. Combine until blended. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and butter and mix until just combined, Do not over mix. Fold in the choclate chips. Add a quarter of the streusel mixture and mix until just combined.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill the muffin cups and top each muffin with a spoonful of streusel, pressing lightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of muffin.