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
I made your banana muffins without the choc chips last night…
Didn’t even have time to take a Pic. It was so tasty.
Love it! I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins. Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE your recipes!! Could these banana muffins work well with a frosting? If so, which would you recommend? 🙂
Thank you.
Hello Camelia, I haven’t really tried that yet to advise but I imagine it would work with any frosting of your choice. Please share with us how it goes if you do an experiment.
Wow Natasha, these muffins came out so delicious. The only change I made was I substituted spelt flour. This will be my go to recipe from now on. It’s truly the best I’ve tried. Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Irene! Thank you for that great review!
very good, but i found them to be too salty- i used unsalted butter and only added in a teaspoon and a half in the recipe. not sure what went wrong? very good otherwise! i also used king arthur gf flour and they turned out amazing at 25 mins. thank you!
Hi Natalia, the recipe only calls for one half teaspoon of salt (1/2 tsp). It sounds like you used 3 times the amount of salt.
Natasha, I had some leftover (over ripe) bananas and decided to make this muffin recipe. As with all your recipes it was great! Everyone loved them!
Hey from SA
One of my favorite recipes I can say.
Was quick and easy yet so so moist and delicious. Thanks natasha
Just wanted to drop as well : God bless you and keep you , He sees you and is with you guiding you , He loves you and you are remarkable.
Thanks for what you do , brought an uplift and amazing twist to home baking even for me a 16 year old .
You’re so nice! Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful feedback with me! Blessings to you!
These were so good and easy to make! I just wanted to say that I really appreciate that in your instructions you include how much of everything to add so I don’t have to scroll back up for the measurements. It’s those small things that make it easier for the rest of us.
I’m so happy you’re enjoying our recipes, Jane! That’s so great!
Hands down the best recipe for banana muffins. Always comes out moist, fluffy, and delicious. I’ve tried so many recipes and this one is my favorite. For add-ins, I’ve used chocolate chips per the recipe but also tried blueberries. Some added bake time was needed for the blueberry substitute because of the added moisture but it still turned out so amazing. Thank you Natasha so much for sharing this perfect recipe. This one will now be my go-to for now until forever.
I’m so happy to read your comments and feedback. Thank you for sharing your awesome experience with us, Christie!
Hi Natashas,
This recipe is great and delicious!
But how to avoid the muffins stick to the liner?
Thank you, Daisy. You may use non-stick liners or grease the wrappers by giving it a quick spritz of nonstick cooking spray before filling them.
Came out really nice added a tablespoon full cream yogurt to the recipe.
I’ so glad you enjoyed that!
Keep up the great work you rock❤️
Hi love everything you make, can you tell me how much of everything, in the Netherlands we have grams , how much is a cup ?
Hello Joy, if you are at the recipe you can click Jump to Recipe and click Metric to convert the ingredients into grams. I hope that helps.
I made these muffins substituting King Arthur GF Measure for Measure flour and chopped walnuts in equal amounts for regular flour and the chocolate chips. They were moist and very delicious. I actually got more than 12 muffins out of the batch. Great! I will definitely make again.
Love it! Thanks for your excellent feedback, Diane. We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe!
I made these muffins substituting chopped walnuts for the blueberries. They were moist and delicious! I plan to freeze some as a treat for another day. I also used the King Arthur GF Measure for Measure flour in the exact same amount as regular flour and you would not be able to tell the difference between the two flours. It is my favorite flour for all non-yeast baking. It is a brand that I highly recommend and is available in many grocery stores and online.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Diane! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Easy and delicious! Made them with the kids today. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback, Samar!
I tried the banana chocolate muffin! And its heaven!
Can I store the muffins? How to store it for days? Do i need to
Fridge it.
Thank you.
I’m so glad you loved the banana muffins! Yes, you may store it with a plastic wrap or foil or an airtight container to keep it from drying. We hadn’t stored this for longer than 2 days.
Banana muffin recipe…Can i use gluten free flour if so do i need to adjust amount of baking powder.thanks.
Hi Irene, I haven’t tried that personally to advise but someone commented on this. “I am celiac so only bake gluten-free. Down the list of comments are a few who follow the same diet. I used Bob’s Mill 1 to 1 Baking flour which worked great as it contains xanthan gum. When in the States I bought something similar… Cup4Cup but it isn’t available where I live in Canada. I asked my husband how they were and he said, “Well… they have chocolate.” Big grin. They were a hit.”
Irene, there is no baking powder in this recipe – only baking soda. I use King Arthur’s GF Measure for Measure flour and used it in the same amount as the recipe indicates for wheat flour. There are no adjustments needed when using this flour. It is available online and many grocery stores. Just be sure to get the correct flour. They also make a GF All Purpose flour which is used for yeast baking. The King Arthur website explains the differences between the two flours.
I thought I had the perfect banana muffin recipe….wrong! Yours is the best!
Thanks Natasha.
Sounds like you found a new favorite Sylvia! That’s so great!
Hello,
Love your banana muffins recipe,so much..I tweak the amt of sugar only as my husband prefers less sugar..my kids always ask for these whenever they find the bananas to be over ripe..thank you so much..is it possible to refrigerate the batter overnight so that I can bake them in the morn to send as snacks to school?what should I do?I fear it wud be the batter wud have more moisture content..plse advice..
Hi Raihana, I’m so glad you’re enjoying this recipe! I have not tested this overnight in the fridge. I worry the batter will deflate and not rise properly.
Hi Natasha and husband
Thank you so much for the yummy recipes
Keep em coming !!
Karen genoff
You’re welcome, Karen! I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes!
I am making these tomorrow….yum….today I am making your chicken and broccoli….thank you Natasha for all your wonderful recipes.
That sounds like the perfect dinner! I hope you love this recipe!
The flavor of these muffins was delicious. I would definitely make them again and they are much better than my go to banana bread recipe. One suggestion would be to definitely cut down on the sugar amount or even substitute brown sugar. They were a little sweet especially with the chocolate chips. I used mini chocolate chips and they were cute but you also didn’t get a mouthful of chocolate which was good. These were great and I will make them again for sure.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us Erika! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!