These are hands down, the best Chocolate Chunk Banana Muffins and are ready in less than 30 minutes from start to finish. With melty chocolate in every bite, they're a great way to use up ripe bananas and freeze well for make ahead snacks and breakfast.
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This easy banana chocolate muffin recipe skips the cinnamon and goes heavy on the vanilla extract to really bring out the banana flavor.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the traditional flavor and texture of banana bread like my Best Ever One-Bowl Banana Bread and Banana Nut Bread Mini Muffins.
But I developed this recipe to be a bakery style banana muffin! It's moist and tender, a little bigger than your average muffin, and full of banana & chocolate flavor.
If you're looking for food gifts for Christmas or maybe to welcome a new neighbor, these chocolate and banana muffins are just the thing! These cupcake boxes hold all 12 (an even dozen) muffins and even have a clear top so you can see right in!
I also love to make and give away my Pecan Pie Bark (Graham Cracker Toffee) and Coffee and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies and to take to potluck meals.
Shortcuts
- You can chop up your own chunks of chocolate from a candy bar or baking bar but it's quick and easy to buy a package of chocolate chunks or use large chocolate chips.
- Using paper liners in the muffin pan makes for easy cleanup!
For the chocolate lovers in your life (that may be YOU), gild the lily and serve a glass of my Shortcut Mocha Punch with a decadent chocolate chunk muffin for breakfast or brunch.
Ingredients
What you will need to make this banana muffin recipe.
Scroll down to printable recipe for exact ingredient quantities.
- Butter or vegetable oil - I've tested this recipe with both melted butter and vegetable oil. There's hardly any difference at all. Use what you have or what you prefer, I say. (Salted or unsalted butter is fine.)
- Baking powder and baking soda- I added a little baking powder to the baking soda to give them a little "lift". Since overripe bananas are less acidic than just ripe ones, the muffin tops peak better from the acid in the baking powder.
Substitutions & Variations
- Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins - It's as easy as swapping out the chocolate chunks with milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate chips! I've even made them with Hershey's Kisses!
- Chocolate Banana Muffins- If you want the banana muffins to be chocolate muffins, too, just swap out ¼ cup of the flour with ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and follow the recipe directions.
- Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread- This batter with chunks of chocolate can be poured into a 9x5 loaf pan and baked at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to cool on a cooling rack.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
I also tested this recipe using 2 cups of Bob Mill's 1 to 1 Gluten Free baking flour (Walmart sells it) and they turned out fantastic! I had one of my friends, who eats gluten-free foods all the time, say it was "...moist and had the perfect texture, not dry or gritty".
How to make Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe with detailed instructions.
- To save an extra bowl to wash, melt the butter in the microwave right in the same bowl you will mash the banana. Use a fork or potato masher to mash the overripe bananas. Then add sugars, eggs and vanilla.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gently stir them into the banana mixture.
- I like to use an ice cream scoop to easily portion out the muffin batter.
- Tip: Remove the muffins from the muffin tins to cool or you can just tip them over on their sides to cool right in the pan.
These are the most moist banana chocolate chip muffins I've ever had! To reheat them, simply microwave them for 10 seconds, each, or air fry them at 350° for 1 minute.
If you aren't using cupcake liners, be sure to grease the muffins pans, first.
Pro Tips
Using the parchment paper, tulip-style muffin liners makes your muffins look like they came straight from a bakery display window! They are sold everywhere from Walmart to Hobby Lobby to Amazon.
How to store
- To Store: Store muffins at room temperature in an air tight container.
- To Freeze: These muffins freeze well in freezer bags or air tight containers up to 3 months.
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Chocolate Chunk Banana Muffins
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Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup salted or unsalted butter (melted) (or ½ cup vegetable oil)
- 3 very ripe medium size bananas about 1 ½ cups mashed
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chunks, plus more for tops of muffins (from an 11.5-ounce package chocolate chunks) (I used Nestle)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F°. Line a muffin pan with 12 large (but not jumbo) paper cupcake liners.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
- Melt the butter. I melt it right in the same large glass mixing bowl I'm going to mash the bananas in. Microwave the butter for 35 seconds, then stir until completely melted.
- Peel and mash the bananas on top of the butter in the large mixing bowl, using a fork or potato masher.
- Stir in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and stir or whisk until blended together.
- Add the eggs and stir vigorously until well blended. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Add the flour mixture and 1 cup of the chocolate chunks to the banana mixture, stirring gently or folding it just until all the flour and chocolate chunks are mixed in.
- Divide the batter evenly into each of the paper liners. I like to use a large ice cream scoop to do this.
- Arrange two or three chocolate chunks on top of the muffins or wait until immediately when they come out of the oven to place them on top. They will slightly nestle into the muffins as they bake and create a decadent appearance like bakery-style muffins!
- Bake at 375F° for 21 to 23 minutes or just until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean and the center springs back when touched.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool.
- Yield: 12 muffins
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.
S Phillips
My clients loved having these wonderful muffins
Kathleen
Yay! I love hearing things like this. They make perfect food gifts!