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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Easy recipe! I love them. I made with walnuts and no chocolate chips. They are delicious!
Hi Terri! Thank you for the feedback. I’m glad you loved the recipe.
Yum~O
Super easy and oh so yummy! I got 24 standard size muffins.
Hi Dale! I’m so glad you loved them!
Delicious, easy to follow recipe, and didn’t change a thing. Thank you!!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing.
My Wife made these tonight using King Arthur Gluten free flour , minus 1 Tablespoon and adding 1 Tablespoon of Corn Starch. They were absolutely delicious. Never know they were Gluten free. Great recipe.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Jeff!
This is by far the best muffin recipe I’ve used. They are so moist and the taste is perfect….not too sweet and the banana and chocolate flavors come through very well. I doubled the recipe for a beach trip snack next week. How can I preserve the freshness?
I’m so happy you loved this recipe, Julie! You may store it with a plastic wrap or foil or an airtight container to prevent drying if making it ahead. We hadn’t stored this for longer than two days, but it should work for a few days.
Should these work just as well with silicone muffin liners vs. the paper ones ?
Hi Julie! I think that would work fine.
Best banana chocolate chip muffins ever! Super moist and delicious. My husband and I have them for breakfast along with yogurt and fresh fruit. I like to think that they are the healthy version as they do not have all that oil that other muffins tend to have.
Hi Madeleine! So glad you love the recipe. Thank you for sharing.
I made these this morning , such a great recipe. I used brown sugar(light) instead of granulated and also used dark chocolate chips. Family LOVES them. Thanks for sharing I will be looking for more great recipes!!!
Hi Nicole! You’re very welcome. I’m so glad they were enjoyed.
This recipe is top notch!! So fluffy and light. I used mini chocolate chips and they are a great hit!!
Thank you Natasha for the recipe. I always love any recipe I try of yours.
You’re so welcome! Thanks so much for your great review and comments. I”m so glad that you’re enjoying our recipes!
Hi Natasha trying this recipe today just wondering no baking powder?
ill post results.
Hi Vicki, that’s right, we used baking soda in this recipe.
I made this last night but used mini loaf pans and they turned out great! Natasha’s Kitchen recipes never fail me!!
I’m so glad you loved it, Erin!
So tasty and moist! The only thing I did differently was melted the butter and added some cinnamon. Delicious, will be making again! Thanks!
Hi Kristin! I’m so glad you loved the recipe. Thank you for the feedback.
I was thinkin of adding cinnamon too but I didn’t. How much did you add? 1 tsp? Thanks
Hi Erin! You can add it to taste, start with a smaller amount and then increase as needed.
Your banana bread recipe has been a go to for many months now! My family and friends love it! Thank you for such delicious and easy to make recipes!
That’s awesome! I’m so happy to know that your family loves this recipe a lot. Thank you for the review, Karla.
Simple and easy-to-follow steps that produce delicious and moist muffins with big banana flavor. Natasha, thank you for another home run recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Alejandra!
These muffins came out amazing. I did my own spin and made a brown butter by using dark brown soft sugar, added 1/2 tip cinnamon and also added chopped hazelnuts. OMG definitely the best thing I baked in a while!
That sounds amazing, Shea! Thank you for sharing.
So good! I used white chocolate chips instead and also added a little cinnamon. Will definitely make again! Can’t wait to have one with my coffee in the morning
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Taylor! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
These muffins are so fantastic, my boyfriend nearly proposed after tasting them.
I made a few changes, which turns out great:
– I substituted mini chocolate chips for standard size; this way, the chocolate was more evenly distributed throughout the cupcakes
– I omitted the chocolate chips on top and instead sprinkled the tops with turbinado sugar before putting in the oven, which resulted in a sweet, sugary crust on top.
These are fantastic and I will be surprised if they last more than two days in our house. Thank you for sharing your recipe, Natasha!
Hi Madeline! That’s amazing. I’m so glad it was a hit. Thank you for sharing.
I made these with monkfruit in place of sugar and used dark chocolate chips (not the bitter kind) . Also my bananas only had a few brown spots (the darker they are the higher sugar content they have ) and these turned out AMAZING!!
Anyone looking for a healthier version this is it!
Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
These are delicious! My bananas weren’t quite soft enough, so I stuck them in my smoothie blender. I had white chocolate chips on hand so I used those.
Perfection! One of my daughters doesn’t usually like banana bread and loved these!
That’s wonderful, Joy. So glad they were enjoyed.
Would like to make this with raisins & walnuts like your delicious banana bread. Could you advise the amount I should use for each? Thankyou!
I would just estimate it, I haven’t measured that using raisins and walnuts to advise of the exact amount.