Chocolate Banana Muffins
Chocolate banana muffins are so soft and moist with deep rich chocolate flavor. All you need is a whisk and a bowl to make the batter and then pop the muffins in the oven for 20 minutes. It’s a great breakfast and afternoon snack for the whole family.
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If you ever needed an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast, this is it!
Yes, the whole family will be ecstatic to be able to have these soft, moist, chocolaty, rich banana muffins first thing in the morning. It won’t just be kids who are happy to feel like they got dessert for breakfast, adults will be smiling as well. I know that nothing puts my day on a right track like a big cup coffee and a chocolate muffin.
The best thing is it’s super easy. All you have to do is whisk the ingredients together, don’t even think of getting a mixer, and pop the muffins in the oven. Within 30 minutes from start to finish, you can enjoy some fresh-from-the-oven muffins. Although, you may want to let them cool down first!
Ingredient Notes
Bananas – it’s a great recipe to use your over-ripe bananas, or use ripe bananas, both work well! As long as they’re not still green, they’re good to go.
Flour – All purpose flour works well for most quick breads. When measuring flour, spoon it into the measuring cup. When you dunk the measuring cup straight into the bag of flour, it gets packed. Packed flour results in too much flour!
Eggs – They’ll need some time to warm up to room temperature prior to using, so give them 30-45 minutes on the counter.
Oil – use a neutral oil like avocado oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil. While avocado oil is usually the best choice, it it a more expensive option out of the three.
Baking Soda and baking powder – Make sure the baking soda is not expired! In order for your baking soda to be potent, you need to use it within 6 months of opening the container.
Mini chocolate chips – use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips but I highly recommend that you use mini chocolate chips. Mini chips spread much more evenly and will give you an even chocolate consistency in each bite.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Use unsweetened 100% Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Chocolate Banana Muffins
Like I mentioned, all you have to do is mix the ingredients with a whisk and pop them in the oven. Of course, there are a couple of other steps and tips involved but you don’t need a mixer.
To start, place ripe bananas into a mixing bowl and mash them very well with a fork. Once they are completely mashed, add the liquid ingredients and sugar. Whisk it all together.
Next, add your dry ingredients, except the mini chocolate chips, and slowly whisk to combine. When the batter is nice and smooth, fold in chocolate chips.
To make sure that all my muffins are the same size, I use an ice cream scoop with release. (Don’t use a scoop without release of you’ll never get the batter in or out.) Use an ice cream scoop to get an even amount of batter and scoop it into the muffin cups lined with cupcake paper liners. Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full.
Finally, sprinkle a few more mini chocolate chips on top and bake for about 20-22 minutes at 350°. (Remember that each oven is slightly different so do a toothpick test before taking your muffins out!)
Storing Instructions
You can store banana muffins at room temperature for 2-3 days. Make sure to store them in an air-tight container though. Place a sheet of paper towel on the bottom of the food storage container and place cooled muffins in it in one single layer. Place another sheet of paper towels over the top of the muffins and close the lid.
PRO TIP: Remember that humidity will affect the shelf life of baked goods stored at room temperature! Shelf life in a humid environment is shorter.
If you want to extend the shelf life of muffins, keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week. Make sure to also keep them in an air-tight container or individually wrapped. I like to warm up cold muffins for just a few seconds in the microwave before eating.
Freezing Banana Muffins
Before freezing, you want to make sure to cool them completely. Wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer for about 2 hours. Once frozen, you can place them into a large freezer bag. Freeze them for up to 2 months.
To thaw, pull out as many muffins as you need, unwrap, and let them thaw on the counter. You can heat up thawed muffins in a microwave for just a few seconds.
Recipe FAQs
I often get the question about converting regular muffins into mini muffins and that’s so easy to do. You will get 34-36 mini muffins out of this recipe. Adjust the bake time to 8-10 minutes at 350° until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Recipes like banana bread, chocolate banana muffins, banana pancakes and many other banana recipes with overripe bananas is a great way to use up bananas that you can’t eat anymore. It’s not a necessity to use those types of bananas if you simply want to make the bread. You can absolutely use nice and yellow bananas in this recipes. Just make sure the bananas are ripe and not green. Do not use hard bananas or bananas that are not fully yellow. (And of course, don’t accidentally get plaintanes!)
Essentially, cocoa powder is cocoa beans that are dried, fermented, roasted, and ground into the powder. Natural cocoa powder is lighter in color, has a higher acidity level and has a noticeably more bitter, rich chocolate flavor. It’s great for baking chocolate cakes, brownies, cookies, and many other baked recipes.
Dutch cocoa powder is darker and deeper in color and has lower acidity because it’s alkalized with the Dutching process. The key difference comes in during baking, because you will need to know which leavener to use. Since we are making hot chocolate and not baking, it won’t matter much which one you use.
More Grab-and-Go Breakfast Ideas
Here are a few more options for breakfast on the go, like Coconut Coffee Cake, Strawberry Crescent Rolls, Nutella Cinnamon Twists, Lemon Cheesecake Hand Pies, and of course, Coconut Banana Bread.
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Chocolate Banana Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe bananas
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup oil avocado, canola or vegetable
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips dark or semi-sweet
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- Place ripe bananas into a mixing bowl and mash them very well with a fork.
- Add sugar, egg, oil, sour cream, and vanilla to the bowl with bananas and whisk until all evenly incorporated.
- Whisk in flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until all evenly mixed and smooth.
- Fold in mini chocolate chips.
- Use an ice cream scoop with release to fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full.
- Sprinkle a few more mini chocolate chips on top and bake for about 20-22 minutes at 350°.
Video
Notes
- Use ice cream scoop with release: To make sure that all my muffins are the same size, I use an ice cream scoop with release. (Don’t use a scoop without release of you’ll never get the batter in or out.) Use an ice cream scoop to get an even amount of batter and scoop it into the muffin cups lined with cupcake paper liners. Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full.
- Storing: You can store banana muffins at room temperature for 2-3 days. Make sure to store them in an air-tight container though. Place a sheet of paper towel on the bottom of the food storage container and place cooled muffins in it in one single layer. Place another sheet of paper towels over the top of the muffins and close the lid.
- If you want to extend the shelf life of muffins, keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week. Make sure to also keep them in an air-tight container or individually wrapped. I like to warm up cold muffins for just a few seconds in the microwave before eating.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles May 15, 2013.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Wow these muffins are incredible! I’ve made a lot of muffins but these are the absolute best. My family can’t get enough! The only thing I did different was I used melted coconut oil in place of the canola oil. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!