Indulge in our irresistible Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins – a delightful fusion of moist banana bread and rich chocolate chips. These homemade muffins are perfect for breakfast or a sweet snack. They’re easy to make and even easier to enjoy!
The recipe also includes optional ingredients like nuts and a superfood blend for added nutrition. You can use either softened or melted butter, with detailed instructions provided for each method.
Equipment
- Stand mixer OR mixing bowl and whisk
- Dry measuring cups
- Liquid measuring cup
- Muffin pan
- Muffin liners – optional but I prefer to use them
- Small stove pot OR microwave safe bowl – for melting butter
- Cookie scoop – I like to use this to fill the muffins cups more evenly
Ingredients
- Flour – I use unbleached all purpose flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Unsalted butter – softened to room temperature OR in a pinch, melted butter will also work
- Sugar – I prefer to use raw cane sugar
- Brown sugar – light or dark
- Eggs – at room temp (see quick 5 minute method in post below and printable recipe)
- Vanilla Extract
- Orange Juice OR Lemon Juice – fresh squeezed or bottled
- The zest of an Orange or Clementine – optional but WORTH IT
- Mashed overripe Bananas
- Chocolate chips – or chunks, any variety you like
- Chopped Walnuts or Pecans – optional
- Better Body Foods Superfood Blend – optional, but it’s a great nutritional addition!
Instructions for making chocolate chip banana bread muffins
There are two different methods that I use to make these muffins and it all depends on the state of the butter.
To quickly warm the eggs to room temperature – Place them in a bowl of warm (NOT HOT) water for approximately 5 minutes.
If your butter is at room temperature – then the first step in making these muffins is to cream the softened butter with the sugars until it’s nice and fluffy. This usually takes about 2 minutes at medium speed in a stand mixer.
Next, add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Followed by the bananas and vanilla extract. Then again, mix well.
Now, you’re going to add the dry ingredients and fold in until just combined. Try not to overmix the batter.
Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips and nuts (if you’re using them) and bake in a muffin pan at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.
If you’re making a bread load, bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Then check it to see if it’s cooked through. If not, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. You could also tent it with tinfoil to speed up the cooking time and prevent the bread from getting too browned on top.
If you’re short on time and need to melt the butter – then follow the recipe as stated below.
1. The first step is to melt the butter. Whether that’s in a stove pot on the stove, or in the microwave, is up to you. While the butter is melting, you can go ahead and get started on mixing the other ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Mash up the bananas until they become a sort of slurry, wet and lumpy is what you want! Then you’re going to add the sugars and vanilla extract (see photo below) and mix until the ingredients are well combined.
3. Once the bananas, sugars and vanilla extract are well combined, add the flour, cinnamon, Better Body Foods Superfood Blend (if you’re using it), salt, baking powder and baking soda. Then mix until just combined.
4. Next, you’re going to slowly incorporate the melted butter into the mix. I do this by having my mixer on the lowest speed setting and slowly pouring the melted and slightly cooled butter into the mixing bowl.
5. After the butter is incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. Then add the eggs and lemon or orange juice and mix until just combined.
6. Lastly, add the chocolate chips (or chunks) and fold into the batter. I prefer to use semi-sweet, but milk chocolate and dark chocolate are also delicious. Also, chopped walnuts taste wonderful in this chocolate chip banana bread muffin recipe. My kiddos personally don’t like walnuts or pecans, so I did not add them here. But their nutty flavor is very complimentary to the bananas and chocolate!
7. Now, line your muffin or bread pan with liners or parchment paper. Alternatively, you could grease it with cooking spray or a neutral oil like vegetable or canola.
8. I recommend filling the muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. As you can see in the photos, they won’t rise very much. This is partly due to using melted butter instead of softened butter. So if you want that classic large muffin top, then go ahead and fill them to the top, or follow the recipe using softened room-temperature butter as stated at the top of this post.
9. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Bake a bread loaf for 1 hour, and then check to see if it’s cooked through. If not, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. You could also tent it with tinfoil to speed up the baking time and prevent the top from getting too browned.
Storing the muffins or bread loaf: Store in an airtight container or cake stand at room temperature for 3-4 days, OR the refrigerator for up to a week. You could freeze this recipe for up to 3 months once it’s cooled to room temperature. If freezing a loaf, slice it beforehand and wrap each slice individually before putting it in the freezer. For muffins, place in a single layer on a baking sheet and put into the freezer for 20 minutes. Then remove them and either wrap them individually or put them into a large zip lock bag.
Reheating: I prefer to reheat muffins or bread slices in the oven at 350 degrees F.
Common Questions
Why is my banana muffin hard?
Overmixing the batter can lead to a more dense and hard muffin. This is often the culprit to a flat, dense muffin or bread loaf. Also, if you’ve left them out uncovered, they will dry out fairly quickly and become hard.
Can you use bananas that aren’t too ripe?
Yes, you can use bananas that haven’t ripened much. But, keep in mind that the riper the bananas are, the sweeter they will be and the easier they will be able to mash and incorporate into the recipe.
How can I make my muffins more moist?
Your recipe should have enough wet ingredients to saturate the dry ingredients without becoming dough-like in texture. You want a batter that resembles pancakes more than a bread dough. Not too runny, but not too stiff either. Another thing to keep in mind is that mixing your wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately is ideal. Typically, I mix all wet ingredients as needed, then add the dry ingredients and any additional mix-ins (like chocolate chips, blueberries, nuts, etc.) and mix everything until just combined. A technique that I like to use is folding the dry ingredients in. This is a bit of a slower process, but it helps to ensure that you’re not accidently overmixing your batter.
How do you know when bananas are ready for banana bread?
Once your bananas have brown spots, they’re ready. But I’ll also use bananas whose skins are completely brown, and they work just fine! The more ripe the banana, the sweeter it will taste and the more aromatic they will be.
Tried and liked this recipe? Give it a rating and leave a comment below! Then snap a photo and tag us over on IG @ _jchandelle
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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a large mixing bowl and whisk
- dry measuring cups for dry ingredients
- liquid measuring cup for measuring wet ingredients
- 1 cookie scoop 3 tbsp size is what I use
- 1 muffin pan
- muffin cup liners optional but convenient
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour unbleached all purpose preferred
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature OR in a pinch, melted will work also
- ½ cup raw cane sugar or white sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar dark will also work
- ¼ cup Better Body Foods Superfood Blend optional
- 2 eggs room temperature see notes for a quick method to get eggs to room temp.
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4-5 over ripe bananas
- 3 tbsp orange juice OR 2 tbsp lemon juice
- the zest of a orange optional
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts optional
- 1.5 cups chocolate chips optional
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Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
If your butter is room temperature:
- Cream the softened butter with the sugars until it's nice and fluffy.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time and mix after each addition. Then add the bananas, vanilla extract, lemon or orange juice, orange zest, and again, mix until well combined.
- Now add the rest of the dry ingredients and fold in until just combined.
- Prepare your muffin pan with muffin liners or grease it.
- Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips and nuts (if you're using them) and bake in a muffin pan at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.
If your butter is cold:
- Melt the butter.
- Mash the bananas.
- Add the sugars and vanilla extract to the bananas and mix well.
- Next, add all of the dry ingredients and mix gently until combined.
- Then slowly incorporate the melted butter.
- Now, add the eggs and lemon or orange juice and zest if you're using it.
- Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips or chunks and nuts if you're using them.
- Prepare your muffin or bread pan.
- Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes.Bake bread for 1 hour and check to see if it's cooked through. If not, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. You could also tent it with tinfoil to speed up the baking time.
I’ve made this chocolate chip banana bread recipe as a loaf and as muffins and either way, it is absolute perfection! But beware, they won’t last long because everyone gobbles them up!