Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I'm so behind on my blog these days... grad school has consumed me! Hopefully will find time to post some of the things I have done recently as well as one more upcoming wedding for a friend next week. In the meantime, I found an hour of my morning to bake some tasty yet healthy muffins. I had some very brown bananas that needed to be used. I like banana bread but it takes forever to bake in the bread pan and I usually burn the sides and the middle is not cooked. So I used my large muffin tin to make big muffins instead. The BF couldn't even tell they were whole wheat ;-) This recipe is a keeper!

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins w/ Chocolate Chips and Pecans
Adapted from the blog Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body
Makes 1 loaf (or 9 large muffins)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup AP flour
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (can substitute regular milk which I did)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large or 4 small bananas - I was short one banana and I subbed a few tablespoons of canned pumpkin in its place)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup mini chocolate chips (I put extra of course)
1 cup Chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 8×4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray (I used a large muffin tin). In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate large bowl, mix sugars and oil with a whisk or fork until well blended (about 1 minute). Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add banana, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add flour mixture; mix with a whisk or fork just until moist. Fold in mini chocolate chips (and pecans if you want). Don’t over-mix. Spoon batter into prepared pan or two ice cream scoop fulls per muffin tin. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes (or 30 minutes or so for the large muffin tin) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.