Soft and moist Banana Muffins with melty chocolate chips are the ultimate treat and are a great way to use overripe bananas. These banana chocolate chip muffins take less than 30 minutes to whip up, so they are perfect for meal prep, sharing with neighbors and coworkers, and a quick recipe to bake with kids.
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Helpful Reader Review
“My kiddos loved how these turned out. I loved making these for us all. The easiest most delicious and moist muffins. I’ve made this 4 times already and came here to make it for the 5th time. I can tell this is going to be a repeat recipe for me so I better memorize now.“ – Fayeza ★★★★★
Banana Muffins Video
Watch me turn those brown, overripe bananas into the best banana bread muffins with chocolate chips. See how easy this recipe truly is, and then let’s get baking!
Easy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
If you’re staring at a few browning, speckled bananas on the counter, please don’t toss them! Those ripe bananas add the perfect natural sweetness to this banana muffin recipe. The browner the better, in fact! Once they are smashed up and baked into muffins, you’ll never see how brown they started anyway.
We’ve had so many questions about turning our chocolate chip banana bread into muffins so here you go – your guide to the best banana muffins! While we love classic banana bread, these muffins bake fast (25 minutes), and are irresistible with melted chocolate morsels.
Banana Muffin Ingredients
Whip up these banana muffins with just a few pantry staples, like flour and sugar. You’ll need 30 minutes and a muffin pan for the single-serving-sized treats.
- Dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar
- Wet ingredients – unsalted butter (to control the sodium level), eggs, and vanilla
- Ripe Bananas – 3 medium-sized bananas (about 1 cup) mashed up. Browned bananas work best since they have the most natural sugar. If they aren’t quite ripe, see my tips below on how to ripen them quickly.
- Chocolate Chips – we prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use any kind you prefer. You can omit if you’d prefer, or also substitute the chocolate chips with an equal amount of toasted chopped pecans or walnuts to make banana nut muffins, or replace them with raisins for banana raisin muffins.
Pro Tip:
To ripen bananas in 24 hours, place the bunch into a brown bag, close it, and store it on the counter for 24 hours. You can also bake almost-ripe bananas in the oven at 250°F for 15-20 minutes.
Can I use Frozen Bananas in Banana Bread Muffins?
If you have overripe bananas and aren’t ready to use them, toss them in a ziploc (peel on) and freeze them for later. Before adding frozen ripe bananas to the recipe, thaw completely at room temperature, or in the refrigerator overnight. Frozen bananas tend to release more moisture, so peel and lightly pat dry with paper towels to remove excess liquid.
How to Make Banana Muffins
Our easy Banana Muffins recipe comes together in just a few minutes and has that irresistible banana flavor and a moist, spongy crumb.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and place liners in a 12-count muffin tin.
- Cream together butter and sugar, then mix in lightly beaten eggs.
- Add mashed bananas and vanilla.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt, then mix into the batter. Fold in 3/4 cup chocolate chips.
- Scoop batter into your lined muffin tin (a trigger-release ice cream scoop makes it easy), sprinkle with chocolate chips, and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Natasha’s Tips for The Best Banana Muffins
There are 3 “secrets” or key points for achieving tender and moist muffins:
- Use very ripe or overripe bananas. Underripe bananas will be difficult to mash and won’t incorporate into the batter well.
- Do not skimp on the butter. Since there is no other ‘liquid’ in this recipe, softened butter is needed for a soft and moist crumb. Watch our video on how to soften butter in 5 minutes.
- Don’t over-bake. If you’re wondering how long to bake banana muffins, test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center after 25 minutes and continue baking only if you see wet batter on the toothpick.
Please DO NOT throw away your overripe bananas because they are the secret ingredient for these moist and delicious banana muffins. The browner and spottier the peel, the better!
What is YOUR favorite way to use overripe bananas?
Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, (8 Tbsp), softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temp, lightly beaten
- 3 bananas, very ripe, coarsely mashed with a fork
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚ F and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together 8 Tbsp softened butter with 2/3 cup sugar. Add 2 lightly beaten eggs.
- Add 3 mashed bananas and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix until blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until incorporated.
- Fold in 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly into your 12-count muffin tin and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips evenly over the tops. Bake at 350˚F on the center rack for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a baking rack to cool to room temperature.
Notes
- Room Temperature: Cooled muffins keep well on the counter in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Place cooled muffins in an airtight freezer container for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter or in the fridge.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
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Hi Natasha,
Today, I have tried Banana Muffins, one of your amazing recipes! It turned out so yummy and delicious, the best banana muffins so far! I also added some small pieces of fresh raspberries in the batter, just to substitute the chocolate chips. The taste was addictive.
You are so wonderful and talented!
Thank you for sharing your recipes with us. 🤗🤗🤗
Thank you for your great comments and feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins!
Can you use cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
Hi Tina,I personally haven’t tested that substitution to advise on the outcome. Cake flour is slightly different, and you may need to make adjustments for the right texture. I found the following via a quick Google search: “When you use cake flour rather than all-purpose flour, you should use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cake flour for every recommended cup of all-purpose flour. You can replace all or a portion of the flour as you please.” I hope that helps.
These were good but no wow factor for me. I did not use raisins because I didn’t have any. I did use cranberries. Thanks for the recipe. I will try again with chocolate chips instead to see if there’s a wow factor there.
Hi Michelle! I’m sorry to hear they weren’t impressive. I hope the chocolate chips help.
Can we save the mixture if we don’t want to cook the whole amount at once?
Hi Allison! The muffins keep really well for 1-2 days at room temperature, or can be frozen for longer storage. I don’t recommend storing the batter since the baking soda will activate and lose power overtime and the texture will also be affected if it sits too long.
Muffins burned from the bottom. I baked for 25 minutes. All ovens a different. Next time I will try 15-20 min baked time. Still yummy 😋
I’ve made this recipe over 15 times! We all love it!! But now that my daughter is celiac I was wondering if you can make this gluten free. Please help.
Hi Frances! Yes, you can use a 1:1 measure gluten free flour blend like King Arthur or Bobs Redmill.
Can blueberries be substituted for chocolate chips and can honey be substituted for sugar? Thank you 😊
Hi Elizabeth. Yes, both of those substitutions would be fine.
Good morning
Could I use olive oil in place of butter. Thank you. They look delicious.
Hi Lois! I’ve only made this with butter, but several of my viewers have reported good results using oil.
I’ve made these several times now. It’s an excellent recipe. Occasionally, I add pecans which this morning I did not, darn. The only variation other than pecans is I sometimes substitute half brown sugar half white sugar seems to be a little richer.
Best banana muffins I’ve ever made! Thank you!!!
Can I make Banana muffins without the paper cups and just pour into muffin pans?
Hi Geraldine, I always make these with non-stick liners since the muffins can adhere to the sides of tha pan and it will be difficult to remove them without breaking them.