These Chocolate Banana Muffins are one of our all-time favorite. They are a delicious chocolate muffin, with a big dose of nutrition, and are a perfect breakfast or snack option for the whole family.
These moist little muffins are really a wonder of a recipe. With basic pantry staples and ripe bananas, the result is tender, fluffy muffins that taste like chocolate cake. They aren’t overtly banana-flavor, but rather have a subtle undertone. And the banana adds moisture and the rich texture that makes these seriously delicious.
We like these muffins warm out of the oven for a toddler breakfast or chilled for a snack or a cold packed lunch. You can serve them on their own or paired with fruit, a toddler smoothie, or some peanut butter or almond butter spread on top.
I usually make these as mini muffins, but they work just as well as standard size muffins. The recipe is flexible, too, so know you can adjust it to work for food allergies as well.
(You may also like my Healthy Brownies, Fluffy Chocolate Muffins and my Chocolate Protein Muffins.)
Table of Contents
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Ingredients You Need
To make this chocolate banana muffins recipe you’ll need to have the following ingredients on hand and ready to go. The most important one is to have and use very ripe bananas.
- Very ripe bananas: The more brown spots the better, as that will ensure that the banana flavor comes through and that the muffins have a lot of natural sweetness.
- Eggs: I use large eggs in my baking and in this recipe, and here they provide structure and lend a nutritious base to the muffins.
- Unsalted butter: Melted and slightly cooled butter OR almond butter works here to add moisture and tenderness.
- Maple syrup: Use either of these to enhance the sweetness of the banana. You can also use honey, for kids over age 1, if you prefer.
- Pure vanilla extract: A little vanilla rounds out the flavor profile of the muffins nicely.
- All-purpose flour: This type of flour ensures that the muffins are super fluffy and tender.
- Cocoa powder: I add a little unsweetened cocoa powder for chocolate flavor here. You can also use cacao powder if that’s what you have on hand.
- Baking powder and baking soda: The combination of these two ensure that the muffins rise and cook through properly.
- Chocolate chips, optional
TIP: You can add a handful of baby spinach when blending the wet ingredients to add a veggie into the mix if you use a blender.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the process of making these chocolate banana muffins. Scroll down to get the full recipe with the amounts and timing.
- Add the wet ingredients to a bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and stir bowl.
- Divide among a muffin tin. Top with chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake through, then let cool on a wire rack.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store these at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 24 hours or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Heat briefly to serve from warm to make them nice and moist!
To make these gluten-free, use cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend.
To add spinach, you can blend the bananas, baby spinach, and the rest of the wet ingredients in a blender. Then stir in the dry ingredients and proceed with the recipe.
How to Store
Store in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container or in a zip-top freezer bag for up to 3 months. Find more info about How to Freeze Muffins.
Best Tips for Success
- Mini muffin tins sometimes have a tendency to stick, so be sure to grease them well with nonstick spray. I do not recommend using paper liners as they are likely to stick.
- I like this mini muffin tin from Wilton.
- Very ripe bananas with brown spots have the most natural sweetness and will make these muffins taste best.
- Stir in 1/4-⅓ cup mini chocolate chips for added deliciousness!
- Top with nut butter, cream cheese, or a drizzle of honey if you’d like.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback if you try this recipe, so comment below to share!
Favorite Chocolate Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup well mashed ripe banana (from about 3 medium bananas)
- 2 eggs (large)
- ¼ cup melted and slightly cooled butter OR almond butter
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted to remove lumps)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a mini muffin tin with nonstick spray.
- Mash the banana very smooth and measure out 1 cup.
- Add the banana to a medium bowl with the rest of the wet ingredients. Whisk to combine well.
- Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. (I add the cocoa powder through a small sieve to remove any lumps.)
- Add batter to the prepared muffin pan, using about 2 tablespoons batter in each.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly. Use a paring knife to remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
- (To make as standard size muffins, bake for 14-16 minutes.)
Notes
- Store in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container or in a zip-top freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup gluten-free flour.
- Dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil for the butter.
- Egg-free: Omit the eggs. Increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon and add ¼ cup milk.
- Blend the wet ingredients in a blender and add a handful of spinach if desired.
- Some mini muffin tins have a tendency to stick, so be sure to grease them well. (I like this mini muffin tin from Wilton.)
- Very ripe bananas with brown spots have the most natural sweetness and will make these muffins taste best.
- Top with a few mini chocolate chips if desired.
Nutrition
(Recipe updated to ensure tenderness, March 2024. This post was first published March 2018.)
Great recipe! Mine do take about 30 min in the oven, though. I swap out 2/3 bananas for a cup of pureed sweet potato and make them every weekend with my toddler. We’ve actually had to take a break from them though because the obsession level he has with them is SO HIGH. He wakes up demanding them, comes through the door after daycare asking for them, yells for them in his sleep, and prefers them to all other foods, insisting he have one instead of dinner, breakfast, or lunch. They’re pretty healthy, so the insanity has been so far tolerable, but the muffin hysteria has reached a peek lately so we have take a break for a bit! IOW, they’re a huge success, but almost too much so!
Do I have to put oats in?? I put whole rolled oats and did not like its texture in the muffins.. or was I supposed to grind them ?
You could use oat flour instead if you prefer.
Are you sure the baking time 10-12 minutes is correct? The muffins definitely needed more time.
That’s what I’ve done for mini muffins with this recipe, but there could be some variation with any one oven.
Amy is using a mini muffin tin in this recipe which calls for less time. It needs about 20 min or more for regular muffin tin.
Soooo good! Thank you fir the recipe!
For *
My almost two year old loves these muffins!!! He’s been very picky lately so that’s not an easy thing to accomplish! I love them too! Thanks for another great recipe 🙂
These were a big hit with both parents and the 2yo! Relatively few crumbs = easy cleanup, and the texture was lovely.
Additional recommendations to streamline/speed up the process: silicone mini muffin pan and 1TB cookie scoop.
Your blog is quickly becoming a favorite reference in our household! Thank you!
Made yesterday for my picky 3 years old and He loved it! I will make again for sure!
Hello. Can I NOT grind the oats and use whole ones instead?
I think so!
Can I use frozen spinach? Would I do anything differently with it if I do? Thanks!
Yes, I would thaw it, squeeze it very dry and use about 1/4 cup at most since it will be much more concentrated.
These were a hit with my 18 month old (and my husband)! I used maple syrup and added both the spinach and chocolate chips. I’ll definitely be making again — thanks for a great recipe!
Can we use vanilla essence instead of vanilla extract for this recipe?
I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure.
Hey we don’t need to grind the oats for this recipe?
No you don’t have to
Vanilla extract is designed for liquids – like smoothies, but can also be used in baking. It just has less alcohol.
Would it be the same if I switched it to oat flour instead of wheat
I haven’t tried it that say so I can’t say for sure, but let me know if you do!
Can I replace the bananas with something else if I don’t have any on hand? I’d like to make them with bananas as well but in cases when I don’t have any, I’d like to see what I could sub them with.
I haven’t tried these any other way, but typically applesauce or mashed roasted sweet potato work well in place of bananas in baked goods.
These are delicious! A massive hit with my 2 year old, me and my husband!
Will be trying some of the other recipes soon!
I’m so glad to hear that!
These are nice and fudgey. I made them vegan by substituting applesauce for eggs and peanut butter for butter. I also blended the oats with the liquids so they wont get hard when baking. I also leave them in the tray for some time to cool so they get a nice shape. Healthy and easy muffin recipe.
This is my second time baking these: Went with cacao and raw almond butter, added some dark choc chips- yum! They are very dense and fudgy but mine didn’t come out dry . My 2 year old loved them.
This time I took an idea from another muffin recipe and soaked my oats in milk first— it makes the tops rise and the muffin less dense. I had become used to my healthy muffins not rising much, but woah, this really makes a difference! I adjusted the recipe and used two bananas instead of 3, and added chia and hemp seeds too.
Thanks for posting!
Unfortunately, these came out awful for me. They were super dry and I ended up throwing them out. I’ve had success with a lot of the muffin recipes on this website, but not this one. Flavor was great but consistency was not. I may try again with maple syrup instead of honey and maybe less baking time?
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll check the baking time too.