Double Chocolate Almond Banana Muffins

So this morning I woke up and decided I wanted to bake banana muffins.

But the only problem is I am so sick of the 'same old-same old' banana muffins.  

You know, the banana bread with (maybe) some chocolate chips and pecans thrown into the mix.

Yeah, definitely wasn't feeling that this morning...

So what was I supposed to do in this sort of predicament?

Well, I did some research and came up with a delicious muffin that, I guarantee, will please you all...

Double Chocolate Almond Banana Muffins.

Chocolate banana bread with lots & lots of toasted almonds and milk chocolate chips.

Uhh yeah. Definitely not your average banana muffin... 

Its a banana muffin hyped up on chocolatey almond goodness... and you are going to love it.

I got this awesome banana chocolate muffin recipe from a great blog called Life Made Simple .  They got the recipe from Good Life Eats but adjusted it to their liking, just as I adjusted it to mine! :) 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup raw almonds, toasted and chopped 

1 cup & 2 1/2 TBS all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

a sprinkle of Cinnamon

1 banana, mashed

1/3 cup greek non-fat plain yogurt

4 TBS applesauce

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

 Place almonds onto a cookie sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes until toasted.  Set aside and cool.  Chop.  (I chopped some of the almonds into thin slices to top at the end!  This is optional.) 

 In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

In a large bowl add the mashed banana, yogurt, applesauce, and egg. Whisk together just until combined.

Slowly add the dry into the wet ingredients, while whisking slowly.  Batter will get thick but keep mixing.  Only mix until all of the ingredients are combined.

 

 Fold in cooled chopped almonds and milk chocolate chips.

Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners and spray with non-stick baking spray.  Using a large scoop, evenly scoop batter and release in each cupcake liner.  The batter only allowed me to make 9 cupcakes.    

**This is when I used the slices of almonds and topped a few cupcakes with little flowers!** 

Bake for 20 minutes until they come out clean when stuck with a toothpick!  Enjoy! :)