Recipe: $3.50 | Per Serving: $0.23 | Yield: About 15

It wasn’t that long ago that I posted a dessert-ish muffin recipe (Plantain Brownie Bites), and that same bag of chocolate chips has been sitting in my fridge ever since, right next to a half-empty jar of applesauce that I stopped packing in my lunch due to the leakage. And as a result, let me present: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins – sweetened with ripe bananas, applesauce, and of course, chocolate chips!

I made these babies the morning before I flew to Salt Lake City last week and they were my perfect breakfast-meets-dessert plane snack. I wanted to use up a few lingering ingredients before abandoning my kitchen for 6 days, and applesauce and overripe bananas were at the top of the list. Once I decided to add chocolate chips, I knew I wanted to modify my banana bread recipe just a touch to reduce the sugar, and the cost. Instead of using date puree or honey, this recipe is sweetened with ripe bananas and unsweetened applesauce, plus, of course, the dark chocolate chips.

To this day, as an almost 30-year-old, I still pack my lunch everyday. This might not surprise those of you who have seen my bento-filled Instagram feed, or came here to see my lunch bento round up. I love lunch. I love eating leftovers and I love having lots of different snacks in the middle of the day. It’s like tapas! Four bites of 8 different things and I’m a happy girl. Naturally these banana muffins are making a regular appearance in my lunch box. And on the plane. Apparently it’s a little weird to bring your own food on the plane if you’re over the age of 3.

I brought: two chocolate chip banana muffins, two breakfast calzones, a banana, carrot sticks, and Trader Joe’s corn nuts. PLANES MAKE ME HUNGRY. But I will say people on both sides of the aisle were eyeballing my food when the flight attendants started passing out mini bags of pretzels and peanuts. Food is king.