Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Loaded with banana flavor and the perfect amount of chocolate chips.
Texture: Delightfully fluffy, moist, and tender.
Ease: Ready in 30 minutes from start to finish!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: The perfect way to use up overripe bananas.
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These banana chocolate chip muffins are tall, fluffy, and exceptionally moist, with a tender crumb and plenty of melty chocolate in every bite.
What makes this version special is the test-kitchen precision: the right (albeit surprising!) flour choice, a butter-and-oil combo, and a mixing method that prevents dense or claggy muffins — so they bake up reliably every time.
The most craveworthy grab-and-go breakfast, afternoon snack for the kids, or anytime you need to use up overripe bananas, stat.
Reader Love
these muffins are sooooo good! definitely my go-to recipe, I’ve made them several times and they always get devoured up so quickly 🙂
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Sprinkle of Science
Why This Recipe Works
- Bread flour creates structure. Its higher protein helps the muffins rise taller and fluffier. No dense or claggy muffins, here!
- Butter + oil gives the best texture. Butter adds flavor; oil keeps the muffins moist and tender for days.
- Very ripe bananas matter. The extra sugar and moisture improve both flavor and texture.
- Gentle mixing prevents density. Overmixing develops too much gluten and leads to dense, rubbery, or heavy muffins.
- Proper oven temperature = lift. Baking at a higher heat sets the structure before collapse.
Ingredient Notes
- Bread flour – Provides extra structure for tall, bakery-style muffins. All-purpose flour works too, but they won’t rise as high.
- Baking powder and baking soda – A mix of both provides the perfect lift and evening browning.
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg – To add a delicious warm spice to the muffins. These are optional.
- Bananas – Soft, very speckled bananas are key for best texture, sweetness, and banana flavor. You’ll need 3 large bananas.
- White sugar and light brown sugar – For sweetness and moisture.
- Butter and oil – For flavor and a moist tender crumb that stays soft for days. Any neutral oil that’s liquid at room temperature will work.
- Eggs – To bind the batter and support structure for tall, tender muffins.
- Salt & Vanilla – For flavor. Don’t skip either.
- Chocolate chips – I prefer semisweet for balance. Mini chocolate chips will work well, too!
- Coarse sugar – Something like turbinado sugar, for a sparkly garnish and added crunch, if desired.
How to Make Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Step-by-Step)
- Prep the oven and pan. Preheat oven to 425°F. The higher temperature creates taller muffins. Line a muffin tin with paper liners (don’t skip these, they are essential for tall, well shaped muffins).
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices if using.
- Mash the bananas. I like to use a potato masher, but you can also use a fork.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Whisk bananas, sugars, melted butter, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- Gently fold together. Add dry ingredients to wet and fold just until combined.
- Add chocolate chips. Fold in gently to avoid overmixing.
- Fill the muffin cups. Fill nearly to the top for taller muffins.
- Bake. Bake 14-15 minutes, until the tops are domed and a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a rack. The muffins will develop better banana flavor the longer they sit.
Tips for Tall, Fluffy, and Moist Muffins
- Use very ripe bananas — look for heavy brown spotting. It’s truly worth waiting till they’re ripe before baking.
- Measure flour correctly to avoid dry, dense muffins.
- Do not overmix once flour is added — streaks are okay.
- Fill muffin cups almost full for bakery-style height.
- For added height, use two muffin tins and fill every other cavity with batter. This allows more space and airflow for taller muffin tops.
Check out all my tips for baking tall muffins here.
Variations & Substitutions
- Nuts: Swap half or all of the chocolate chips for toasted walnuts or pecans.
- Chips: Feel free to use milk chocolate, white chocolate, or even butterscotch or peanut butter chips.
- Espresso: Add 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder for the perfect morning pick-me-up.
- Dairy-free: Replace the butter with additional oil (2T) and use a dairy-free chocolate chip.
- Gluten-free: Replace the bread flour with a gluten free flour blend plus 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum.
Storage & Freezing Instructions
Room temperature: Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.
Freezer: Freeze up to 3 months; thaw overnight or microwave briefly.
FAQs
Can I use frozen bananas?
Yes! Frozen overripe bananas work great. Thaw completely and drain any excess liquid before using.
Can I make these jumbo or mini?
Yes. Adjust the bake time. Mini muffins will need about 9 minutes, jumbo muffins will need about 20 minutes.
Does an overnight rest of the batter work for this recipe?
The baking soda in the batter will lose strength the longer it sits before being baked, so you’ll likely lose a little browning of the muffins as they bake.
Do I need to adjust this recipe for high altitude?
Reduce baking powder to 2 teaspoons. You may need to adjust more or less depending on your altitude.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (205 grams) bread flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder*
- 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
- 1 1/2 cups (354 grams) mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)**
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) vegetable or canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- Coarse sugar, for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Position an oven rack to the middle or upper middle position. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices (if using).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the bananas, sugars, butter, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just barely combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide evenly among the muffin tin cups, filling each 3/4 full for large muffins. You can also make about 15 smaller muffins by filling the cavities of two pans just 2/3 full. Sprinkle each with a generous amount of coarse sugar for a crunchy shiny topping, if desired.
- Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 14 to 15 minutes. Let cool in muffin pan for 5 to 10 minutes before removing to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
More Banana Recipes:
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Another awesome recipe from HtH! These muffins have such great flavour from the butter but are still so moist from the oil. Super soft too! I’ve tried maybe a dozen different banana muffin recipes and these are the best!
So thrilled to hear that, Chelsey!! 🙂
I’ve tried this recipe twice and really like it. These muffins are wonderful for breakfast or any time of day snack. My only concern is that they don’t finish cooking by 15 minutes at 425. Any suggestions when using silicone muffin cups?
Hi Liz! We haven’t tried baking these in silicone muffin cups, so I can’t say for sure!
My son and I have made these twice, and they taste really good. Except… each time we made them there were odd bites here and there that were very sour/bitter. It seems based on my googling that it might have something to do with the baking soda. I was wondering if you had any insight on that. The second time we made them I made sure to mix the dry ingredients super well and triple checked my measurements. I bake quite a bit and have never had such an issue. What could we be doing wrong?
Hi Anne! Hmm, that is strange! Sometimes, if you can really taste the baking soda, it means that there wasn’t enough acid in the other ingredients to fully activate it, and neutralize it, and you have unreacted baking soda left in the food. Are the bananas you’re using super brown? If your bananas are too fresh, they might not be contributing enough acid to the batter to neutralize the baking soda. The brown sugar should also be assisting in this, but perhaps it’s not enough if the bananas are not overripe enough. Alternatively, if your baking soda is a bit older or you live in a humid climate, it might be clumping together (you would be able to see little clumps when you open the container). What you might be tasting is just tiny little clumps of baking soda that was not mixed in – no matter how much you mixed! (and you definitely don’t want to overmix!!) I recommend measuring out the baking soda and pushing it through a very fine sieve, as you mix it into the dry ingredients, and then gently fold those into the wet ingredients. You can also try decreasing the baking soda to 1/4 teaspoon, but just be aware, your muffins won’t be as light or tall as a result! I hope something here helps!! Good luck and happy baking 🙂
Hi Tessa! Can I replace bread flour with all purpose flour? Will it affect the recipe outcome? Tia 🙂
Hi Tia! Tessa actually states in the pink tip box above the recipe that AP flour can be used instead 🙂 It will affect the muffins texture a bit, so if you can, try using King Arthur AP flour as it has a higher protein content. Let us know what you think of this recipe when you give it a try!
I have frozen ripe bananas. Will I get the same results once the bananas have thawed out? I love all your recipes! They are always a huge hit!
Hi Sandra! You can use frozen bananas – just thaw them out, drain the extra moisture, and they’ll be perfect 🙂 Enjoy your muffins!
I love banana chocolate chip muffins and these are the best I’ve ever had! They’re incredibly moist, super easy to make, and so good. Add the coarse sugar to the top, it’s definitely worth it. I’ll be making these again and again!
This was sooo good! Moist and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness. Will definitely make again. 🙂
Can I chill this batter over night and then bake it? Thank you for all these trusted (and delicious:) recipes!
Hi Steph! Great question, we actually don’t recommend it. I just added your question and more details to the pink box above the recipe! Enjoy your muffins 🙂
Delicious! No doubt they would be. All of your muffin recipes have always turned out amazing. Perfect balance of flavours in these and a beautiful rise too.
Wonderful! So glad you loved these muffins!
Another brilliant recipe that delivers as promised. Handle the Heat is my go to site for all things baking.
Aw yay! So happy to hear that, thanks so much!
These are delicious and exactly as the recipe states: light and fluffy and full full of banana flavour! I chopped up dark chocolate and used that in place of the chips and it was yummy!
Wonderful! So happy you loved this recipe 🙂
Hello! I have bananas to use and these look perfect!! Can I exchange the bread flour for whole wheat flour? Or a mixture of whole wheat & all purpose? Would love to try these! Thank you and love your recipes!!
Hi Lori! We haven’t tried that! Please let us know how it goes if you do 🙂
Any Egg substitute? You can suggest for the recipe?
Sorry, we don’t bake egg-free recipes, so I can’t say for sure!