Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Muffins are a favorite around my house. We love having them for breakfast alongside a smoothie like my favorite coffee smoothie, or as a better-for-you anytime snack. Chocolate chip banana muffins are the best because they are packed full of melty chocolate and burst with banana flavor. It is a muffin-lovers dream.

• It's an incredibly easy and fast muffin batter made with simple ingredients you know
• They freeze incredibly well to enjoy any time
• They stay fluffy and moist with every bite and the pockets of chocolate pair amazingly with the banana

We need just a few pantry-staple ingredients to make the best chocolate chip banana muffins. You can find the full list of ingredients and measurements in the recipe card below. 

• All-purpose flour - I prefer all-purpose flour over other types of flour, but you can use white whole wheat flour. A gluten--free 1 to 1 baking mix would also work 
• Bananas - Using over-ripe bananas give us much-needed sweetness, moisture, and flavor. That is what makes muffins made with bananas so amazing
• Oil - Anything neutral-flavored like vegetable oil works here. I prefer oil over melted butter because it gives the muffins more rise, and helps keep the muffins nice and moist 
• Sugar - We don't use a ton of sugar in these muffins because the bananas do an amazing job of sweetening the muffins. I use granulated sugar but dark and light brown sugar would also work 
• Vanilla - Vanilla adds just a bit more flavor and really helps make these muffins irresistible. i recommend pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, if you have it 
• Buttermilk - To help the baking soda in the muffins get a little more rise, I love using buttermilk. You can add a teaspoon of distilled white vinegar or lemon juice to milk and let it sit for five minutes if you don't have buttermilk around. You can also substitute it with plain yogurt or sour cream
• Chocolate chips - I recommend a mix of chocolate chips. Semi-sweet and dark chocolate work so well in these muffins. For the best muffins, I would also recommend trying to use chopped chocolate instead of chips.

Quickly ripen bananas

You need overripe bananas to make any banana-based baked goods, muffins included. I will leave bananas hanging around just to be able to make muffins and bread. If you only have fresh bananas that aren't yet ready, but still want to make muffins, you can easily do a "quick ripen" of your bananas to help speed things along. 

• Bake your bananas. Keep the peels on the bananas and bake them at 300°F /149°C for about 10 - 15 minutes, or until the skins are blackened and the bananas are very soft. Allow the bananas to cool completely before you unpeel and mash. 
• Microwave your bananas. Peel the bananas, slice, and microwave for about 5 - 10 minutes, and then allow to cool completely before mashing. 

How to make

It only takes a few simple steps to make this banana chocolate chip muffin recipe. The hardest part is waiting for them to be cool enough to enjoy! 

1. Preheat your oven and line your muffin pan with paper liners. 
2. Add your bananas to a large bowl and mash them well. 
3. Stir in the vegetable oil, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and buttermilk to the mashed bananas and mix well. 
4. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. 
5. Chop the chocolate and toss with a little flour in a separate bowl. 
6. Add the dry ingredients into the mashed banana mixture and stir until there are no streaks of flour. Lumps in the batter is fine. 
7. Fold the chocolate into the batter, then evenly divide the batter among the muffin cups. 
8. Bake until the muffins are a light golden brown and bounce back when touched. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. 
9. Remove and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Optional add-ins

There are so many ways you can dress up your banana chocolate chip muffins to make them incredible. Here are a few of my favorite ways to upgrade your muffins. 

• Add in chopped nuts. I recommend walnuts. 
• Add in spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, pumpkin spice. 
• Nutella swirled throughout is amazing. 
• Sweetened cream cheese gives the muffins a cheesecake twist. 
• Crushed graham crackers go really well with banana.
• A few tablespoons of brown butter will elevate the muffins a ton. 
• Streusel topping - it adds an irresistible buttery crunch. 

Getting bakery style muffins

There is one super simple trick to getting those mile-high bakery-style muffins with the giant muffin tops that comes with just one small caveat. Let your batter rest for a few hours, even overnight in the fridge. This allows the flour time to hydrate and thicken the batter which allows it to rise higher in the oven. For this to work, you need to use double acting (preferably aluminum-free) baking powder.

The reason this works is because it gives the flour a chance to absorb the liquid so it is thicker, allowing it to rise higher before spreading out. You need the double acting baking powder because double acting meants it activates twice. First, from exposure to liquid, then heat. You will get some rise when you first mix the batter which further helps to thicken the batter, but you will get the final rise in oven. 

Amanda's expert baking tips

The most important way to ensure you get the best results is to make sure you are correctly measuring your ingredients, particularly the all-purpose flour. You should fluff up the flour and then spoon it into your measuring cup then sweep of the excess. If you want to make sure you get consistent results, you can convert the recipe to metric and use a kitchen scale.

Banana chocolate chip muffins are easy to make for breakfast, snacks, or whenever you want them! Here are some baking tips you may find helpful, especially if you are a new baker. 

Make sure you mix the wet ingredients together - sugar counts as a wet ingredient in this case - and the dry ingredients together. Add the wet and dry together, and mix until just combined. You want to see lumps in the batter. 

Start the muffins at a high temperature for a nice rise, then lower the temperature to prevent over-browning. It is important to follow the instructions exactly. 

Coat the chocolate with flour. This helps prevent the chocolate chips from sinking right to the bottom of the batter when baking. You just need a couple of teaspoons to give them a nice coat. 

Storage tips

You should keep your muffins stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. 

If you would like your muffins to last longer, I recommend freezing your muffins and thawing out the muffins you want to eat that day. Store your muffins in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month.

To thaw the muffins, leave them at room temperature for about half an hour. You can warm them by heating them in the microwave for about 5 - 10 seconds.