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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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 the flavor is just as good.
Banana Muffins Video
Watch me turn those brown, mushy 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 Muffin Recipe
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.
Since chocolate chips make everything better, we’ve tossed a few into the batter. They add great moisture and a gooey chocolate chip is the equivalent of melty cheese in the dessert world. One look at our chocolate chip cookies and you’ll agree.
Ingredients for Banana Muffins
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
- Wet ingredients – unsalted butter (to control the sodium level), sugar, eggs, and vanilla
- Ripe Bananas – 3 medium-sized bananas (about 1 cup) mashed up. Brown is best since it has the most natural sugar. Here’s how to determine if they are past ripe. If they aren’t quite ripe, see our 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 for 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 and store on the counter for 24 hours. You can also try to 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 batter. Fold in 3/4 cup chocolate chips.
- Scoop batter into your lined muffin tin, sprinkle with chocolate chips, and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Pro Tips for Moist Banana Muffins
There are 3 key points for achieving moist and tender muffin:
- 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.
Make-Ahead
Cooled muffins keep well on the counter in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They keep even longer in the freezer. Make a double batch so you’ll always have muffins on hand!
- Freezing: Place cooled muffins in an airtight freezer container for up to 3 months.
- To Reheat: Thaw on the counter or in the fridge.
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?
More Muffin Recipes
Enjoy our top-rated, made-from-scratch, bakery-quality muffin recipes. I hope you find some new favorites here.
- Egg Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Mixed Berry Muffins
- Zucchini Muffins
- French Breakfast Muffins
- English Muffins
- Cinnamon Muffins
Banana Muffins Recipe
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
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Please is it possible to replace butter with a healthier option such as greek yogurt? Thanks in advance
Hi Carl. I haven’t tested an alternative. Please let us know if you experiment.
These muffins are amazing and so delicious, sweet but not too sweet and moist. I make them for my family all the time and they love them. Sometimes I will do half chocolate chips and half butterscotch chip for a change which are great, as well.
Please use the amount of mashed banana in a measuring cup instead of the number of bananas because bananas can really differ in size and thank you.
Thanks for your feedback, will keep that in mind of next time.
Natasha, yesterday I made your banana chocolate chip bread so today I decided to try the muffins. I had to play jr. chemist (which I don’t like to do when I’m baking ) but I didn’t have enough bananas let. I added unsweetened apple sauce and then realized (thanks to your wonderful video) that the batter wasn’t thick enough. I added more flour and they came out great. Can’t wait to try the recipe again as is. Your cookbook is coming today and I’m excited. thanks for all your support.
Thank you so much for purchasing my cookbook, Cathy! I hope you love it too!
Made these today and ong so good!!! I used walnuts and pumpkin seeds as well. Turned out better than I could have hoped for!
Hi Natasha,
I can’t wait to try these I absolutely love chocolate and banana together
Amazing muffins!!
Made some last week and my family enjoyed them.
Thanks
Hi Gail! I’m so happy they were a hit!
Hi natasha! Love the banana muffin. But mine came out a lil bit dry. Any suggestion? I baked them at 350 for 26mins.
Hello! There could be possible reasons, like overmixing the batter, too much flour or overbaking. Try adjusting the banana ratio or mixing gently in future batches, and make sure to check your muffins for doneness a few minutes before the timer goes off! Hope that helps!
I think this might be my favorite banana chocolate chip muffin recipe! These are soft and airy, other recipes I have tried, I usually get dense and heavy muffin. They were still good! But I didn’t know what I was missing lol , thank you Natasha for another great recipe!
These are by far the best banana muffins I’ve ever made. Will definitely be making these again.
That’s wonderful to hear. Thanks for the review.
Hi Natasha,
Is it possible to make these as mini muffins ? Would I need to adjust the baking time?
Thanks so much.
Mini cupcakes would work too but I haven’t personally tested it myself to provide the exact baking time. You should be able to keep temperature the same, just check them early on, likely around 10-12mins.
My son absolutely LOVES these muffins. He’s 3 and asks me to make them every week. I snuck some protein powder into them and he can’t even tell.
We love your banana bread and banana bread with chocolate chips.
I need to ask you how to substitute the flour for almond flour.
Last time I used 2 cups almond flour and it takes extra time in the oven.
But I love the texture and it was very moist.
Thank you Natasha!
Hi Nury! I’m not sure, I haven’t tested almond flour in this recipe.
I’m glad you’re loving the recipe!
Your video and pictures both show a half stick of butter, yet your recipe calls for 1/2 cup (= to one full stick). Is the video correct or is the recipe amount correct?
Hi there! I’m confused, I watched the video and looked at the images in the post above, both show 1 full stick.
Made this tonight and added walnuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips. It’s fantastic!
I made this recipe today. I have tried for years to try to make good banana bread unsuccessfully. But this was my first success thanks for this recipe.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Emily!
Hi Natasha,
I’ve been following your recipes, and my family and I absolutely love them! I also purchased your cookbook and have been enjoying it. I wanted to ask—would it be possible to turn these into protein muffins by adding protein powder to the mixture?
Hi Melissa! Thank you so much. I’m happy you’re enjoying the recipes. To be honest, I haven’t tried baking these with protein powder. I assume it could work.