They are {almost} HEALTHY.  What??  Yes.  They do NOT contain: flour, sugar, oil, or butter.  In fact the main secret ingredient IS... 

Wait, first, I have to apologize for not having actual pictures of the muffins out of their pan.  Sooooo, we are renting an old house, which is very very charming.  But the oven is also old {excuse me, vintage} and charming.  And baking these was an experiment in testing out the oven's temperature regulation.  Guess what?  There's not really any regulation...

It takes a while to heat up, but then just keeps heating!  I set the oven at 350, and by the end of the baking, it was at 450.  Yikes.  Don't worry, the oven-fixer-man is coming today, so hopefully we can figure out a more workable situation.  However, because of my beautiful, vintage, extra hot oven, these muffins were a little unattractive on their bottoms.  So they were much more photogenic in the pan.

So now for that secret ingredient... bum bum bum bahhhhh: Chickpeas!  Can you see them all smooshed in the food processor?  Chickpeas {or garbanzo beans, if you prefer} are the substance of these muffins, along with a banana and some eggs.  Ok, there is honey in there too.  

And if you're feeling sassy, you can throw in some chocolate chips.  But they're totally optional {sort of}.  I advise eating these for breakfast and dessert!  Because, y'all, there's no flour- it's all chickpeas!  I got 16 muffins out of this recipe, and after figuring out the nutrition facts, they are 100 calories each {with chocolate chips they are 150}, 3 grams of protein and 1 gram of fat per muffin.  For a tasty little snack with all natural ingredients, that's pretty good.

Plus, it's all made in a food processor, which means easy clean up!

Secret Ingredient Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 16 muffins

1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2/3 cup honey

1 normal ripeness banana 

3 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup chocolate chips {optional}

Preheat your {awesome, self-regulating} oven to 350.  Whirl the chickpeas in a food processor until they are all crumbly.  Then add in honey, banana, eggs, cinnamon, and baking soda and whirl again until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips at the end, if desired.

Fill cups in a muffin pan to 2/3 full.  Bake for about 15 minutes.  Allow to cool, then enjoy!

Ok, here they are: brown, crumbly bottomed muffins.  But they taste way better than they look! Promise.