Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

Ah Saint Valentine…how ever did your martyrdom end up being associated with romantic love? One account dates back to the Roman Emperor Claudius II. He decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families and outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine (a priest), realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. Claudius found out about the secret marriages and ordered Valentine to be put to death. Valentine’s death was in the middle of February. Another claim comes from the Christian church where they may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February (or February 15),  Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.  Legend has it that all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Fast forward to today and we have millions professing their love to one another in the form of flowers, chocolates, romantic dinners and perhaps even tying the knot!  Here’s a bit of Valentine trivia: according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year (2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas). Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.  Ever wonder where some of the Valentine rhymes used today hail from?  Below is one example:
   
From the collection of English nursery rhymes Gammer Gurton’s Garland (1784):

 
The rose is red, the violet’s blue,
The honey’s sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou’d be you.

Makes 12
adapted from Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Honey-Cinnamon Frosting:
1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180c (350f). Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not over-mix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with frosting.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: I have my all-time favorite banana cake recipe from The Fannie Farmer cookbook that I use when bananas become too ripe. A long time ago I started adding semi-sweet chocolate chips.  However, this cupcake recipe is so easy to make and the frosting is akin to the crowning of a royal subject!  It’s that good!  Enjoy!

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