Craving homemade muffins that are moist and delicious? This Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe needs only 15 minutes of prep, making them an easy choice for busy mornings or afternoon snacks.
Delicious served with a yogurt bowl or a blueberry banana smoothie.
Banana Muffin Highlights
- Flavor: These muffins are moist and tender with a rich banana flavor, warm cinnamon notes, sweet bursts of chocolate, and a subtle nuttiness from the walnuts.
- Skill Level: This beginner-friendly recipe does not require a mixer or any special baking techniques.
- Why It Works: Starting at 400°F gives the muffins an extra boost of lift, while lowering the temperature to 375°F allows the centers to finish baking evenly.
- Serving: Enjoy these muffins with a fresh fruit salad, a yogurt bowl, or deviled eggs for a balanced and satisfying breakfast.
Cook Time: 35 Mins Servings: 20 Muffins Cook Method: Oven
Ingredient Notes
- Wet Ingredients:
- Ripe bananas, mashed very well, provide a smoother texture, deeper banana flavor, and natural sweetness.
- Greek yogurt adds moisture an brings a subtle tang to the muffins. Plain full-fat or reduced-fat Greek yogurt works best, though regular plain yogurt can be used for a slightly looser batter.
- Maple syrup sweetens the batter while complementing the banana and cinnamon flavors. Honey makes a good substitute.
- Use a neutral flavored oil to keep the muffins soft and tender, even after refrigeration. Good options are vegetable, avocado, canola, even coconut oil.
- Use room temperature eggs to bind the ingredients together.
- Vanilla rounds out the banana and maple flavors. You can sub in maple extract for a stronger maple note.
- Dry Ingredients:
- Cinnamon adds warm flavor without being too overpowering. You can use pumpkin pie spice to replace some or all of the cinnamon.
- Baking soda is used to help the muffins rise. Be sure the soda has not expired.
- All-purpose flour creates a soft texture. Whisk flour and sprinkle into a measuring cup before levelling it off.
- Chocolate Chips: Use semi-sweet chips to balance the lightly sweet batter. Mini chips are great because they are distributed well, while dark chocolate chips make the muffins less sweet.
- Walnuts: While optional, add flavor and crunch. Toast them briefly and cool before adding, or leave them out for a nut-free batch
Variations
- Divide the batter into mini muffin wells and bake for 11 to 13 minutes. Or fill jumbo wells and bake for 20 to 24 minutes. In either case, check the center before removing.
- Replace the chocolate chips with blueberries, rhubarb or strawberries. You can fold frozen fruit straight from the freezer to limit streaking.
- Replace walnuts with chopped pecans.
- Add nutmeg, ginger, or pumpkin pie spice alongside the cinnamon.
- Replace part of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. A full substitution will create a heartier, denser crumb.
How to Make Healthy Banana Muffins
- Mix the wet ingredients and seasonings.
- Fold in the flour, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
- Divide into muffin tins and add extra chocolate chips.
- Bake, reducing the oven temperature (full recipe below).
Better Muffins Every Time
- The riper, the better! Ripe bananas have a strong flavor and sweetness which reduces the need for additional sweetener.
- Measure the mashed fruit rather than relying on a specific number of bananas.
- Stir only until the flour disappears. Over mixing develops gluten and can make muffins dense, firm, or rubbery.
- Fill muffin wells evenly so they bake at the same time. A spring-loaded scoop is a great way to portion the batter.
- If the tops brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil until the centers are ready.
- Be sure to test the center of the muffin for doneness. Avoid inserting the toothpick into melted chocolate.
- Cool muffins completely before removing from muffin tin.
Same Some for Later
- Store muffins in an airtight container with paper towel to absorb extra moisture.
- Room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Freez for up to 3 months.
- Thaw overnight and enjoy cool or at room temp. Or heat in a 300°F oven until warmed through for a fresher exterior.
More Ways to Use Ripe Bananas
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Healthy Banana Muffin Recipe
Soft, moist banana muffins made with Greek yogurt, maple syrup, warm cinnamon, and chocolate chips. This easy one-bowl batch is ideal for breakfast, snacks, and freezing.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup mashed banana
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup chocolate chips divided
- ¼ cup walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F with rack just below the middle of the oven. Grease muffin tins or use pan release.
- In a large bowl, mix banana, yogurt, maple syrup, oil, and eggs until well combined.
- Stir in cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla, and salt.
- Toss ½ cup chocolate chips, and nuts if using, with flour and fold into banana mixture. Mix until just combined.
- Divide batter evenly between 18-20 muffin tins.
- Top muffins with remaining chocolate chips.
- Pop muffins into the oven and reduce the temperature to 375˚F. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
- Why the temperature change in the recipe? Adding muffins to a very hot oven, then dropping the temperature allows the muffins to rise quickly at the beginning, then bake through without burning.
- Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients.
- Do not over-mix muffin batter.
- Cover muffins loosely with foil if they begin to brown too much.
- Cool muffins before removing from tin.
- Bake Times: Mini muffins: 11-13 minutes Regular muffins: 18-20 minutes Jumbo muffins: 20-24 minutes
- Store muffins at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 148 | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 153mg | Potassium: 103mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 34IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients or garnish and is an estimate. It may change based on actual ingredients and cooking methods used.
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These turned out super yummy! I didn’t add chocolate chips/walnuts, as wanted to keep cals down – but the flavour is perfect!
So happy to hear that Lisa!