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
Hello,
What size Banana are we talking about? How high do you fill the muffin tin?
Thank you
Hi Judith, medium or average-sized bananas is what we used. We divided the batter evenly between 12 cupcakes so it ended up about 3/4 full each.
Hi Natasha,
If I would want to substitute with almond flour, how much would I need? Is the proportion the same as regular flour?
Thank you
Hello Eleonor, I haven’t tried using the almond floor yet so I can’t advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
Natasha, I don’t have unsalted butter. Will it be okay to use salted butter? I’d rather not go out to the stores at this time to buy it.
Hi Barbara, That should work!
I made this recipe,it came out quite nice except yours came out looking yellow mine came out brown.Any suggestion, thanks
Hi Florence, was it possibly over baked? Oven temps vary and that could be the culprit.
These were so good, and they turned out as pretty as muffins from a bakery. I’m wondering, though, have you ever frozen them and how did they turn out if so?
Hi Tiffany, I haven’t frozen these (they never last long enough) but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
We had a midnight baking session with this recipe, and the muffins came out so yummy! Gobbled 3 right from the tray😋 Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe Natasha! Easy to make, and very delicious
I love it! Thank you for sharing that with us, Cassandra. I’m so happy that you loved the end result!
Made these today. Followed the recipe exactly and they were DELICIOUS! Next time might add walnuts. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Love it so glad to hear that you enjoyed the muffins, Christy. I appreciate you sharing it with us and thanks for your awesome review!
Hi Natasha! All your videos look so delicious. I keep saving all of them to make sometime! I came across this recipe and it looks delicious and something my 2 & 5 year old would LOVE and help me with. How should I change the recipe measurements if I only have two bananas though
Hi Ligia, you could also add a little applesauce (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup) to compensate for the missing banana or you will be missing some moisture in the recipe.
Perfect! Will do…Thank you so much for your quick reply! 😘
Made these again w my 5 year old and substituted semi sweet chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. DELICIOUS! Thank you for the recipe!
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing that awesome review with me, Ligia!
Made these today and my husband loved them! Moist and delicious! Thank you for this great, easy recipe!
You are so welcome, Keryl. I hope you and your husband love every recipe that you will try!
I really enjoy Natasha’s cooking
Natasha does make cooking look sooo easy
Thank you for that thoughtful feedback! I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes.
Hi Natasha! Thank you for this recipe, I am looking forward to making it. I only have salted butter at home. Due to current events I don’t want to go out to get unsalted butter. Can I use the salted butter and just omit the salt mentioned later in the recipe?
Sorry if you already answered the question, I didn’t see it in the comment thread. Thanks and stay safe!
That should work Rebecca.
Banana Muffin Recipe
Can I use oil instead of butter?
Hi Shanti, I wouldn’t recommend skimping on the butter. Since there is no other ‘liquid’ in this recipe, softened butter is needed for a soft and moist crumb.
Made these today and used dark chocolate chips and they turned out aweome. Browned nicely. I have tried a lot of recipes and this one is the best!
That’s so great to know! Thank you for sharing that, Christine!
I need chocolate muffin cupcakes
Thanks!
Hi Zoha, I will add that to my list, thank you for that suggestion. You may enjoy this chocolate chip banana bread recipe here.
Forgot to give it a rating….6 if I could!
Awesome thank you!
I love to bake and thought I had found the perfect banana muffin UNTIL NOW. This one is a keeper, for sure! I’m fighting the temptation to keep eating them! Made two batches as I had 6 ripe bananas and during this trying time, it’s waste not…want not. Love ALL of your recipes. I am an avid fan!!
Love it! Thanks for your amazing feedback I appreciate it.
Forgot to include rating with my comment. Definitely deserves all the stars.
Thank you!!
Super delicious! I made half the muffins with chocolate chips and half with peanut butter chips. Highly recommend the peanut butter variation for any PB lover!
Thank you for that wonderful feedback and review, Carolyn! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Thank you so much for the awesome review! I’m so happy you loved it and I love your idea of adding peanut butter chips!
Great recipe that was easy to make. The muffin tops were more on the flatter side than domed but they tasted great.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Easy, moist and delicious! Just made these and I was not disappointed. Just wish I had more chocolates
I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Just tried these today and they are really yummy. The only thing is that they could have been baked another 5 mins or so but the tops were burning. They’re a bit gooey but still really tasty
Thank you for sharing that great review with us Julie. I’m so glad you enjoyed that.
This recipe calls for 3 bananas but there can be a huge difference in the size of bananas. What would be the approximate measurement in cups?
I didn’t measure it in cups but if you’re going to be using smaller bananas you can use 4.
Absolutely perfect! I made a double batch and out that, made 12 muffins and the rest I put in cake pans. I will frost and use as dessert later!
Thank you for the recipe!
So awesome Lori! Thanks for your perfect review and I hope you love every recipe that you try.