Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
The fluffiest, most tender muffins packed with extra banana flavor and chocolate chips for a bit of sweetness and crunch. These muffins retain their soft texture for days, making them ideal to bake and eat all week!
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Why this recipe works
The bananas and oil work together to keep these muffins moist for days. In fact, almost so moist that I considered leaving them in a non snap-tight container because they somehow get softer over time. However, I also use a bit of melted butter to add in some fluff. These aren’t the classic dense banana muffins, which is just how I like them.
The use of brown sugar also adds a depth of flavor that complements the banana flavor perfectly. Plus, just a bit of cinnamon helps create this lovely, warm flavor profile that is delicious all year long.
Finally, the chocolate chips. I mean, why wouldn’t you add in chocolate chips??? They add flavor, sweetness, and a bit of texture. Not quite a crunch, but texture all the same. They are the special something that makes these muffins so, so delicious.
Key ingredients
Mashed banana. This helps keep the bread so, so moist for days. Plus, it has just the right amount of banana flavor.
Flour. Be sure to sift it and to measure carefully—spoon the flour into the measuring cup then level it off with the flat side of a knife (known as spoon-then-level).
Salt. Try to use sea salt, if possible, as it won’t create an overly salted taste and is actually better for you!
Baking powder. Not baking soda! Baking powder is more delicate and helps this rise without being dense.
Cinnamon. I like a lot of cinnamon! You can actually use a tiny bit more, if you’d like. I also suggest using high quality cinnamon, as the flavor is better.
Eggs. Be sure these are room temperature so they mix well with the other ingredients! If you forget to take them out ahead of time, you can put them in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 15 minutes.
Oil. I suggest avocado or grapeseed oil, as these have a mild flavor but are healthier than vegetable or canola.
Vanilla. Use pure vanilla extract! Imitation will have a slightly different flavor and won’t give you the same pleasant flavor.
Butter. I suggest European style, as it has less water. Be sure to use unsalted, or omit the salt in the recipe. Be sure to melt it without letting it boil, as we don’t want browned butter.
Brown and granulated sugar. Brown sugar helps this stay moist while granulated helped it rise. Using both gives you the best of both worlds.
Chocolate chips. I measure roughly, letting my heart tell me when there’s enough (well, sort of…obviously there’s a point where you have so many that these crumble, but I always add in a bit extra to be on the safe side.
How to make banana chocolate chip muffins
1. Melt your butter. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Sift and whisk together the dry ingredients. Sifting isn’t necessary, but I prefer it to keep the lumps to a minimum.
3. Mash the bananas and mix with wet ingredients. Save the butter for the end, streaming it in and whisking carefully so you don’t scramble the eggs.
4. Whisk in the sugars for 1 minute. You want the sugar mostly dissolved before you add the flour.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients. You actually want to leave a few dry streaks, which will get folded completely after you add the chocolate chips.
6. Fold in chocolate chips. I also added a few to the top of each muffin for that bakery style look.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Check a middle muffin to ensure there is no raw batter.
Enjoy!
Tips and FAQ’s for this recipe
How ripe should my bananas be?
I actually used bananas with just a little brown on them and it was fine. Bananas with too much green on them will be difficult to mash, but they will still work and will have a strong banana flavor. Brown bananas work fine, too, as long as they’re not too brow on the inside. Avoid using any parts that are so brown they’re turned to that rotted texture.
How do I know it’s baked through?
I always use a toothpick, but a small knife or kebab skewer will work, too. You want to catch the muffins when they’ve just barely stopped being raw, as they will cook a little more in the pan while they cool. So try to use a toothpick to check for moist crumbs but no raw batter.
Can I add nuts?
Sure! I actually have a walnut version of these muffins found here. You can do half chocolate chips and half walnuts, but I’d avoid a full amount of walnuts (or other nut) plus a full amount of chocolate chips. That would create so many mix-ins that the muffins would likely fall apart.
My muffin tools
Here are my must-have tools I use for making these muffins. Affiliate links provided.
Whisk (or stand mixer or handheld mixer)
Cupcake/muffin pans (I’ve used many over the years and these are the most consistently successful.)
Increasing the recipe
I wrote this recipe to make about 8 muffins, but you can easily double or triple it to get 16 or 24 muffins. (I felt that double and tripling was much easier math than something random like “do a 1.5 recipe or a 1/3 recipe”). Below are the measurements for a double or triple batch.
To make 16 muffins (a double batch):
1 ½ cups (204g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 ½ teaspoons (6g) baking powder
½ teaspoon (3g) salt
1 teaspoon (3g) ground cinnamon (optional)
1 cup (about 300g) mashed banana (2 large or 3 medium very ripe bananas)
1 tablespoon (13g) pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
4 tablespoons (56g) avocado or vegetable oil
4 tablespoons (56g) melted butter
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar (light or dark will work)
1 cup (170g) chocolate chips
To make 24 muffins (a triple batch):
2 ¼ cups (306g) all-purpose flour, spooned then leveled
2 ¼ teaspoons (9g) baking powder
¾ teaspoon (4g) salt
1 ½ tablespoons (12g) ground cinnamon
1 ½ cup (about 450g) mashed ripe bananas (3 large or 4 medium)
1 ½ tablespoons (19g) pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons (84g) avocado or vegetable oil
6 tablespoons (84g) melted butter
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (150g) brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (255g) chocolate chips
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- prep time: 5-10 minutes
- bake time: 20-25 minutes
- total time: 35 minutes
servings: 8-10 muffins (see above for doubling or tripling recipe)
Ingredients:
- ¾ cups (102g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ teaspoons (3g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (3g) ground cinnamon (optional)
- ½ cup (about 150g) mashed banana (1 large or 2ish medium very ripe bananas)
- ½ tablespoon (6g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (28g) avocado or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons (28g) melted butter
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar (light or dark will work)
- ½ cup (85g) chocolate chips (any kind)
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350F/175C. Prepare a muffin/cupcake pan by spraying with baking spray (or lightly greasing with butter and sprinkling with flour). Alternatively, you can line it with muffin liners, but this will make about 10 slightly smaller muffins.
- Melt the butter and set aside. Don’t let it cool enough to solidify, but do let it cool somewhat before using. Don’t wait until mixing to chop them, as the batter shouldn’t sit for that long.
- Using a large fine mesh sieve, sift then whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Mash the bananas (I used a potato masher) and measure out one cup. In a large bowl, whisk the banana together with the vanilla, eggs, and oil until well combined. Slowly stream in the melted butter while whisking quickly (this prevents scrambling the eggs).
- Add the sugar and brown sugar to the wet ingredients and whisk for about 1 minute. You can whisk it by hand or, if using a stand or hand mixer, mix on medium.
- Fold in the flour mixture gently until mostly combined, with some visibly dry flour in spots. Fold in the chocolate chips until well-distributed. This step will cause the rest of the flour to mix in, but it should still have some lumps in it.
- Divide between your prepared muffin liners/pan. Top with some more chocolate chips.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in a middle muffin comes out with some moist crumbs. Check early so it doesn’t over bake. If it starts to brown too quickly, tent the pan loosely with foil. Let muffins cool in pan 5-10 minutes. Remove and let either serve immediately or let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Enjoy with your morning coffee!
Store leftovers in an airtight container.
