Started off the morning with my favorite banana chocolate chip muffins.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite church cookbooks. If you ever have a chance to buy a church cookbook, do it! First, you’ll be supporting a good cause. The church has a great track record of making a real difference in people’s lives without wasting money. Second, those church women can cook! Breakfast casseroles, appetizers, soups, desserts—you name it, they’ve got it!

This particular recipe was submitted by my good friend, Shirley Dominick. For those of you who know Shirley, that in and of itself is all the recommendation this recipe needs!

Anyway, this recipe is delicious. If you haven’t made banana muffins in a while, give this one a try:

Ingredients:
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups (3 medium ripe) bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ cup chocolate chips (Note: the original recipe says that these are “optional,” but since when is chocolate “optional”?)

Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and butter until creamy. Add bananas, eggs and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 18 – 25 minutes or until light brown. Makes 12 to 15 muffins.