Skinny Chocolate Banana Muffins

As usual, I bought a bunch of bananas and only ate two of them.  I'm so picky when it comes to bananas, they have to be at the perfect ripeness for me, so i only get about two days out of them.  Honestly, I know I can purchase just two, but a whole bunch is so enticing.  Of course, I always have in the back of my mind that I can make banana bread or something out of them...
Well, this time I was more in the mood for something chocolatey and the chocolate chips weren't going to be enough!  My husband loves chocolate-chocolate chip muffins and when I looked up the recipe I normally use I was a little turned off by the vegetable oil.  I've been trying to maintain a low fat diet and with the oil, I was looking at about 16 grams of fat PER MUFFIN.  Of course not all of the fat is from the vegetable oil, but I knew I could do something to cut at least that part out, so I substituted unsweetened apple sauce.  With just that substitution, I was able to cut the fat down to 7 grams and the calories went from 403 to 247! (see nutritional facts below)
I was a little nervous about how the apple sauce/banana/chocolate flavors would taste together, but I'm SO happy with how they turned out!  My taste tester (aka my husband) liked them, too... even after I told him they were the healthy version!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1t baking soda
• 1/4t baking powder
• 1/2t salt
• 3/4 cup mashed banana (about 2 over ripe bananas) 
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce 
• 1T butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine banana, apple sauce, butter, and egg in a medium bowl, then mix into dry ingredients.
4. Mix in chocolate chips.
5. Add liners to 12-muffin tin, or spray with cooking spray.  Pour muffin mix into each cup about 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
7. Let cool for 10 minutes in muffin tin, then move to cooling rack to continue cooling.

Tips: If you decide to cut this recipe down, or you have a larger muffin pan, I suggest filling empty cups 1/2 way with water.  This helps keep moisture in the oven and prevents muffins from burning.