Egg Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hello friends!
So my youngest has an egg and peanut allergy, thus leading me to find new adventures in baking.  I am cautiously optimistic that he will outgrow these allergies, but in the meantime I've been experimenting with substitutions in some of my favorite recipes.  My (and my kids') favorite muffin recipe is from my dear friend Camille - her delicious Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, which I previously blogged about here. I only did one small teeny weeny change to it, and that was to substitute the egg for ground flax seed mixed with water!  That's it!  So here is the updated recipe:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cups white sugar (I only added 1 cup actually)

3 TBSP milled flax seed 

9 TBSP water

1 cup applesauce

2 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups mashed bananas

1/2 cup chocolate chips or however much you want! (optional)

Flax Seed and Water

Mix flax seed and water together in a medium bowl and let sit for 5 minutes.  Grease 2 muffin tins (skip this step if you're using paper liners). Beat together sugar and flax seed mixture, then mix in apple sauce. In a separate larger bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Make a well in the center and add your wet mixture to your dry mixture, and stir only to mix (don't over stir or your muffins will be heavy!).  Mix in mashed bananas and chocolate chips. Pour (or fling if you're so inclined) into muffin tins or paper liners until cup is about 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.  This recipe only made 18 muffins, while the original recipe made 2 dozen!  

I phoned Hershey's, and was happy to find out that it will definitely say if there is a possibility of cross contamination between the chocolate chips and any nuts on the back of the chocolate chip package.  So I can use this brand with confidence, but will still be double and triple checking the label every time before use it, I'm sure!