Feb. 10, 2002 – Think of things to eat on Valentine's Day and chocolate comes to mind. Instead of indulging in a rich, gooey chocolaty dessert on this love-ly day, you might opn instead for some more healthful sweet, moist muffins that serve up a double dose of chocolate — cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
Cocoa trees grow in tropical climates of the Caribbean, South and Central America, and Africa. The Aztec chieftain Montezuma is recorded by food historians to have consumed more than 50 cups of a chocolate drink daily — a concoction made by crushing cocoa beans and mixing them with red chili peppers and snow. The mighty chief believed that consuming chocolate would make beautiful young ladies fall in love with him.
More recently, Michael Liebowitz, in his book "Chemistry of Love," writes that some researchers believed that an unknown amphetamine-like chemical substance — perhaps phenylethylamine (PEA) — increased in the brain when someone met Mr. or Ms. "Perfect." Chocolate is full of PEA, so researchers made the association that people ate this sweet to enhance their romantic feelings.
But when they put their theory to the test by having subjects in an experiment eat pounds and pounds of chocolate, the researchers discovered that the body digested PEA before it could ever reach the brain. Liebowitz concluded that people, in love or out of love, turn to chocolate for its sugar and/or caffeine content, or simply for its satisfying flavor.
Flavor is the No. 1 attraction in these muffins — the chocolate and banana are a natural combination. You'll love the taste and someone will surely love you for baking up a batch.
Double-Chocolate Banana Muffins
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 muffin cups with nonstick coating spray or line with paper cups. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa. Mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Makes 24 muffins. Per muffin: 165 calories, 8 gems fat (44 percent fat calories), 30 mg cholesterol, 81 mg sodium.
