Easy and Moist Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe for moist banana chocolate chip muffins has the perfect balance of banana and chocolate. The batter uses yogurt along with eggs to make them super moist, fluffy, and flavorful. These easy banana muffins are made in one bowl and you can enjoy them as breakfast, a snack or bring to a brunch!

What I love about baking with banana is that anytime you do, your whole house smells like heaven.

I know bananas get a bad rap when it comes to other flavors – don’t even get me started on banana laffy taffys, but when it comes to baking, you CANNOT go wrong with a delicious banana muffin recipe!

This banana chocolate chip muffin recipe is loaded with flavor from overripe bananas and semi sweet chocolate chips. The best part about them is how easy and incredibly moist they are.

As a trained pastry chef I really take the time to test my recipes until I am happy with them. The multiple 5 star reviews on this recipe agree!

They are great to snack on throughout the day, bake with kids, or easy to make when you are just in the mood to bake something. Also, who doesn’t ALWAYS have overripe bananas on their counter right?!

For my chocolate lovers, you can try these chocolate banana muffins, they are just as good! Or if you are looking for these in a cake version try my banana chocolate chip cake that’s made in an 8×8 pan.

You can eat these muffins just as they are or if you want to go over the top you can slather them with this chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• These are the best banana muffins because they are light and fluffy!
• They are made with yogurt to keep them super moist.
• You can make them mini if you want!
• With this easy recipe you can make them in just one bowl and don’t need any fancy equipment or even a hand mixer.

Also if you’re like me and always have a ripe banana or two sitting on your counter, well then thats just an excuse to make these!

The best bananas to use

Overripe bananas that are black, or spotty bananas, are the best ones to bake with for moist banana bread, cakes or muffins! The darker they are the sweeter they will be which is great for baking!

These can also be baked in large batches and is a great way to get rid of a bunch of bananas!

Equipment you need

• Cupcake liners– grease proof are the best!
• Ice cream/cookie scoop– to evenly scoop out muffin batter, this is the best thing to use!
• 12 Cup Muffin tin– the color of your baking tin matters. A darker baking tin will bake faster than a lighter one.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Melted Unsalted Butter – Adds a rich buttery flavor.
• Overripe Medium Bananas – The star of this recipe is mashed bananas. They add a classic texture to the muffins along with a natural sweetness and banana flavor. Make sure your bananas are ripe- overripe and have brown spots! Overripe bananas typically have completely brown skin and can be mashed very easily.
• Eggs – Eggs are important in any muffin recipe because they help bind all the ingredients together and help add density to the muffin.
• Vanilla – Vanilla extract is a flavor that pairs well with banana, chocolate and most any baked treat!
• Yogurt – Yogurt is one of the key ingredients to making these muffins super moist. Make sure you use plain full fat yogurt! You can substitute sour cream for yogurt if you are in a pinch!
• Milk – Milk helps thin out the batter while adding a creamy texture.
• White Flour – You’ll need white flour as the base of the muffin.
• Dark Brown Sugar – Brown sugar adds sweetness that balances out the sweetness of the chocolate chips and banana. White sugar can be used as a substitute but won’t keep the muffins as moist.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda – These two ingredients will help the muffins rise and become fluffy but still dense!
• Salt – Salt balances the flavors of all the ingredients.
• Chocolate Chips – You’ll need your favorite chocolate chips to fold into the batter. Feel free to use mini chocolate chips! Use white, dark, or semisweet chocolate chips to fold into the muffin batter.

How To Make Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

• Preheat the oven to 425 F. Melt the butter in a medium bowl in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted.
• Add the wet ingredients: mash bananas, then add the eggs, vanilla, yogurt, and milk, and mix to combine.
• In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
• Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture and mix only until the batter comes together. Do not over mix. Pour the chocolate chips in and lightly fold again until they are incorporated throughout.
• Line a muffin tin with 18 paper liners. Fill the muffin cups ¾ of the way full. Place som extra chocolate chips on the top of the muffins for garnish.
• Bake for 8 minutes on 425 then lower to 350 for 12 mins. Baking them at a high temperature at first and then increasing the temperature helps give muffins their dome shape!
• Cool muffins on a wire rack and enjoy!

The secret to moist banana muffins

• Use a combination of eggs and yogurt. The yogurt will add a beautiful density and creaminess to the batter and the eggs will help keep them moist and stay together. Do not use low fat yogurt!
• Use super ripe bananas! These are the ones that are black and spotty and you *almost* want to throw in the garbage. Dont! Bake with them instead! Underripe bananas wont give these delicious muffins the same sweetness.
• Don’t over mix! It’s important to just fold in the ingredients until the batter is formed. Over mixing will cause the gluten in the starch to become stretchy which will change the texture of the muffins.
• Don’t bake longer than 25 minutes total. Since muffins are a lot smaller than banana breads or cakes, in most cases they only need 20-25 minutes to bake. Any longer than that and they risk becoming dry.

Yield

This recipe makes 18 perfect muffins. You can double the recipe if you need too and you can also make half if you only want a few.

Variations

• Add in a cup of walnuts to make banana nut muffins!
• Slather with peanut butter or a drizzle of maple syrup.
• Add in a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries to turn them into banana chocolate blueberry muffins.
• Sprinkle on a spoonful of Streusel Topping on top of each muffin before baking.

Storing & Freezing

Storing: These muffins can stay on the countertop or in the fridge in a sealed airtight container or zip-top bag for 4-5 days.

Freezing: The best way to freeze banana muffins is to wrap them individually in a layer of plastic wrap under a layer of aluminum foil or put them in a freezer safe plastic bag. This will keep them from getting freezer burn and will help preserve the flavor. They can be stored up to 3-4 months in the freezer and only need a couple hours to defrost on the counter!

Expert baking tips

• Make sure you are correctly measuring your flour. Spoon flour into your measuring cup and then level it off with a knife. Never directly scoop the flour with your measuring cup because it will compact the flour and you will end up using too much. Too much flour will make your muffins dense.
• It’s just the opposite for brown sugar. You can and should compact your brown sugar into your measuring cup.
• Make sure to cool the melted butter before using
• When you bake muffins on a higher temperature and then reduce it, it helps to created that rounded top

Mini banana chocolate chip muffins

To make this recipe into mini muffins you will need a mini muffin pan and mini muffin liners. Preheat the oven to 425 and bake for 4 minutes. Lower the oven to 350 and bake for 6-8 more minutes.

This recipe will make about 40 mini muffins. You can halve the recipe if you want less.

Recipe FAQ

What makes muffins moist? The combination of yogurt and eggs make a super moist baked good!

What makes a muffin light and fluffy? Using room temperature ingredients (yogurt, eggs, butter) will help to create a smooth batter. When mixed the batted traps air that is then released when baked and will create a light and fluffy muffin.

What’s the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? The difference between muffins and cupcakes are that muffins have muffin tops and cupcakes have frosting. Also when baking cupcakes you don’t start at a high temperature like you would with muffins.

What kind of chocolate should I use? I like to use semi sweet but you can use milk chocolate or bittersweet chocolate.

Can I make these gluten free? You can use gluten free flour in place of the all purpose flour.

Other Banana Recipes You’ll Love

• Banana Bundt Cake
• Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
• Healthy Banana Bread
• Nut Free Banana Bread