These super light and moist Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins are a perfect way to start a busy day. Packed with chunks of melty chocolate and gooey bits of banana, these flavorful muffins are delicious for a mid-morning snack or sleepy morning.
These chocolate chip banana muffins deserve a spot in your breakfast muffin rotation, alongside our Blackberry Banana Oat Muffins and Banana and Carrot Muffins. Making homemade muffins may seem intimidating, but it’s as simple as whisking together dry ingredients and beating together the wet ingredients. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet to form a cohesive batter then pour into muffin tins and bake until golden brown. Plus, they stay fresh on the counter for a few days and longer in the fridge, making them ideal for meal prep.
Why You’ll Love These Muffins
- Grocery store ingredients
- Easy to customize, with plenty of substitutions
- Chocolatey, with intense banana flavor
- Plenty of add-in options like nuts or coconut
Jump to:
Ingredients that Matter
These light and airy banana bread inspired chocolate chip banana muffins use basic grocery store ingredients. Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Bananas. Use very ripe bananas to make these muffins. If your muffins aren’t quite ripe enough you can roast them in a 350F oven for 15 minutes until blackened. Cool slightly then peel and mash for intense banana flavor.
- Chocolate. Use 1 cup (or a 4 ounce bar) of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chunks. You can also use chocolate chips, if preferred.
- All-Purpose Flour. Use regular all-purpose flour for these muffins.
- Light Brown Sugar. I recommend using light brown sugar for the slight molasses flavor but you can swap in regular granulated sugar, if desired.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda. Both baking powder and baking soda promote a light and airy texture. The soda also encourages browning.
- Table Salt. Regular table salt mixes well into the dry ingredients, which is why its my preferred salt for baking.
- Yogurt. A bit of plain full-fat yogurt adds nice tang and creates a moist muffin.
- Oil. Use a light flavored oil like vegetable, peanut or canola.
- Eggs. A couple eggs provide body and structure to these muffins.
- Pecans. You don’t have to use nuts, but you’ll get a nice chunky monkey style muffin if you use them! I like pecans but you can also use walnuts or almonds.
- Vanilla Extract. A splash of vanilla extract provides a nice caramel flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Making homemade muffins is quite simple, but may feel a bit intimidating if you’ve never made them before. Below I’ll give you a step-by-step guide for making these super moist banana muffins:
Start by preheating an oven to 350F and lining a standard size muffin tin with muffin cups or liberally spray with cooking spray. Stir together in a medium bowl the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, mash the ripe or roasted bananas until fairly smooth but still a bit chunky.
Add to the bananas the eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla.
Stir the mixture until smooth. At this stage, you can beat until smooth if you don’t want gooey bits of banana throughout, or leave it a bit chunky if you like bites of banana.
Add the dry ingredients and gently fold to combine, scraping the edges of the bowl as you mix. Be careful not to overmix but ensure there are no streaks of flour in the batter.
Add the chunks of chocolate and chopped pecans to the batter and fold to combine.
Divide the batter in the muffin cups, about â…“ cup in each. It’s okay if the batter fills up the muffin cups. Top with a bit more chocolate chunks and pecans, if desired.
Bake until golden brown and set and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 24 minutes.
Hint: It’s important not to overmix the batter or the muffins could come out dense and even a bit gummy. That is why it’s important to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula and not a wooden spoon or whisk.
Substitutions
There are plenty of options for substitutions to this recipe based on your dietary restrictions and even flavor preferences. Consider the following tweaks:
- Gluten-Free – You can use a one to one gluten-free flour substitute to make this recipe gluten-free. Note that most baked goods using gluten-free flour mixes tend to comes out a bit gummy.
- Yogurt – If you don’t have yogurt you can swap in an equal amount of sour cream, buttermilk or regular milk.
- Dairy-Free – To make these chocolate chunk banana muffins dairy-free try using a plant-based milk or yogurt and a dairy-free chocolate.
- Oil – Using a light vegetable oil will create a super moist, light and airy muffin. You can also use melted butter or coconut oil, instead.
- Chocolate – I recommend using a 4 ounce bar of good quality chocolate, preferably bittersweet or semi-sweet. yo can also use dark or even milk chocolate, if preferred. No chocolate bars, you can also use chocolate chunks or chocolate chips.
Banana Chocolate Muffin Add-Ins
Try these extras add-ins for these chocolate chunk banana muffins:
- Nuts – I love chopped pecans in this recipe, but you can also use walnuts or almonds. Or, try using chopped unsalted peanuts.
- Peanut Butter – Speaking of peanuts, try adding a scant teaspoon peanut butter into the middle of the muffin cup for a delicious peanut butter twist on these muffins.
- Coconut – Try stirring in a ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut to the muffin batter.
Serving Suggestions
These muffins are delicious as is first thing in the morning. Seriously, I love waking up knowing breakfast is ready! But, you can also include these muffins alongside other breakfast and brunch items like our Mini Egg Bites with Broccoli and Cheddar or our Blackberry Strawberry Banana Smoothie. Or simply serve with plain yogurt, fresh berries, fruit and a hot cup of coffee.
Storage
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter or 4 days in the refrigerator. They won’t go bad after that time, but they will get quite stale. You can also freeze muffins in a freezer-safe zip-top bag for up to 1 month. Remove from the freezer the night before to enjoy the muffins the next morning.
FAQ
Yes, simply roughly chop a block of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate into a big chunks. Thicker blocks of baking chocolate works best.
Very ripe bananas work best for homemade muffins, but if you have unripe bananas, you can try roasting them. Place bananas still in their peel in a 350F oven and bake for 15 minutes, until blackened. Cool slightly then peel and and mash.
Breakfast
Looking for other breakfast recipes like this? Try these:
Dinner Ideas
Need some inspiration for dinner tonight? Try these recipes:
PrintRecipe
Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
These super light and moist Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins are a perfect way to start a busy day. Packed with chunks of melty chocolate and gooey bits of banana, these flavorful muffins are delicious for a mid-morning snack or sleepy morning.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (197 grams / 6.9 ounces)
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. table salt
- 3 medium very ripe bananas (see note)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup lightly packed light brown sugar (108 grams / 3.8 ounces)
- â…“ cup oil, such as vegetable, peanut or canola
- ¼ cup plain full-fat yogurt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chunks (or chips) or 1 (4 oz.) bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate bar
- ½ cup chopped pecans, plus more for topping, if desire
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a standard size muffin tin with parchment cups or liberally spray with cooking spray.
- Whisk together in a medium bowl the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined.Â
- In a separate bowl, mash the bananas (to yield about 1 cup) until mostly smooth. Add the eggs, brown sugar, oil, yogurt and vanilla and stir or whisk until mostly smooth. Add the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold the mixture together, until no streaks remain but be careful not to overmix the batter. Add the chocolate and pecans and fold to combine.
- Divide the batter among the muffin tin cups (about â…“ cup each). It’s okay if the muffin cups are full. Top with more chopped pecans and chocolate, if desired, then bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 24 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin then transfer to a wire rack and cool another 10 minutes, or until room temperature. Enjoy warm or room temperature.Â
Notes
- If you don’t have ripe bananas, try roasting them in a 350F oven for 15 minutes until blackened. Cool slightly then peel and mash for an intense banana flavor. You should have about 1 cup mashed banana.
- You can use half whole-wheat and all-purpose flour, if desired, for a healthier muffin.
- These muffins are note super sweet. If you like a sweeter muffin, add ¼ cup granulate sugar to the batter.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter or 4 days in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the muffins in a freezer-safe zip top bag for up to 1 month.
- Consider reserving some of the chocolate to top on each muffin.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Leave a Reply