Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Loaded with banana flavor and the perfect amount of chocolate chips.
Texture: Perfectly fluffy, moist, and tender with chocolate chips studded throughout.
Ease: SO easy to make. Ready in 30 minutes from start to finish!
Pros: The whole family will gobble up these muffins.
Cons: Absolutely none.
Would I make this again? Absolutely, these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are perfect for a quick grab-and-go breakfast recipe or even impressing at a family brunch gathering.
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These Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins will satisfy whenever that chocolate + banana flavor combo craving hits.
The best thing about banana muffins is they can be made so many different ways.
But banana and chocolate? This combination has a special place in my heart.
Enjoy one of these banana muffins with a cup of coffee to kick your day off with the MOST delicious start!
I’m sharing all my sweet tips for making the BEST Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins below.
How to Make Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients for Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:
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- Bread flour – Although bread flour does work best in this recipe, you can also use all-purpose flour instead. If you can, opt for King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, which has a higher protein content.
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- Baking powder and baking soda – Be sure they’re fresh and active! Learn about baking soda vs. baking powder and how to test for freshness here!
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- Fine salt – To balance out the sweetness.
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- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg – To add a delicious warm spice to the muffins. These are optional – skip if desired.
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- Bananas – Make sure your bananas are very ripe – more details on this below.
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- Granulated sugar and light brown sugar – For sweetness and moisture. Learn more about all the things sugar does in your baking here.
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- Unsalted butter and vegetable or canola oil – I always prefer unsalted butter in baking – learn why here. We are using both oil and butter in this recipe for multiple reasons – more on this below.
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- Eggs – Eggs bring so much to baking, such as structure, tenderness, moisture, and more.
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- Vanilla extract – For flavor.
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- Semisweet chocolate chips – You could also use milk, dark, or white chocolate chips if you prefer. Mini chocolate chips will work just fine, too.
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- Coarse sugar – For garnish, if desired.
How Ripe Should Bananas be for Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins?
Be sure to use overripe bananas for these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Here are some of my best banana baking tips:
- The best bananas for baking should be very well-speckled or even nearly black.
- Overripe bananas are actually significantly sweeter and will contribute more banana flavor AND more moisture to the recipe.
- If you use underripe bananas (and when I say ‘underripe,’ I mean for baking specifically!), your muffins will be bland and dry.
- This is important when baking banana bread, banana muffins, banana cake, or banana cupcakes!
Can I Add Nuts to These Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins?
- Sure! I created these muffins to include chocolate chips, but you can add some coarsely chopped nuts in place of some of the chocolate chips if you prefer.
- Just keep the same total volume of mix-ins the same as written in the recipe, for best results.
- I recommend lightly toasting your walnuts or pecans before adding them to the batter.
Do I Need To Adjust This Recipe For High-Altitude Baking?
Reduce baking powder to 2 teaspoons if you are at high altitude. You may need to adjust more or less depending on your altitude.
How Do I Bake Tall Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins?
Tall Muffin Tip #1: Use Bread Flour!
- Bread flour has a higher level of protein content than all-purpose flour.
- That extra protein will allow the flour to absorb more moisture and add more structure.
- The result? Extra tall muffins that are still super moist and tender!
Tall Muffin Tip #2: Bake At A High Temperature!
- In this recipe, we bake at a high temperature for 425°F the entire time to get tall, beautiful muffins.
- You may have seen techniques that call for an initial burst of heat and then require you to drop the temperature down for a longer bake.
- I personally don’t love this method because all it takes is one time when you forget to lower the temperature, and you have scorched muffins.
Tall Muffin Tip #3: Fill Your Muffin Cavities 3/4 Full With Batter!
- For tall muffins that have a bit of a muffin top, it’s essential to fill each cavity of your muffin pan pretty full with batter. For this recipe, I find that filling each cavity 3/4 full using a standard 12-cup muffin tin works beautifully.
- If you want slightly smaller muffins or have a muffin pan with smaller cavities (each bakeware brand is different!), then feel free to fill the cavities 2/3 full. You’ll just need to fill 15 cavities across two pans.
Check out all my tips for baking tall muffins here.
How Long To Bake Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
This recipe was designed to bake at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time, just 14 to 15 minutes. Those overripe bananas help to keep the muffins moist instead of drying out in the hot oven.
How To Avoid Overbaking Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Don’t use a dark-colored nonstick pan when baking muffins. It simply conducts heat too aggressively and can lead to burnt bottoms and dry edges. My favorite pan for muffin baking is either this Wilton or this USA Pan.
How Do I Make MOIST Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins?
- Use a combination of oil AND butter! Use some oil for the sensation of moisture on the palate. This happens because oil is liquid at room temperature. It’s also my preference to use some melted butter so you get that beautiful distinct taste that only butter provides. This way, you get moistness and flavor! Learn more about oil and butter in baking here.
- Avoid overmixing your wet ingredients with the flour mixture as this will result in more dry, dense muffins instead of muffins with a moist crumb.
- Follow the other tips above for using overripe bananas for the best guarantee of moist muffins!
Does An Overnight Rest Of The Batter Work For Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins?
I wouldn’t particularly recommend an overnight batter rest for these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.
If you’ve followed me for a little while, you may have seen my overnight muffin batter fridge trick. Basically, for muffin recipes that use baking powder, if you cover the batter and allow it to rest overnight in the fridge, then the muffins will bake up extra tall and tender the next day. Check out my full article on How to Bake Tall Bakery Style Muffins here.
However, this banana nut muffin recipe is a little different. It uses both baking powder and baking soda. Baking powder is double acting so it activates upon being mixed with liquid, and also when it hits the heat of the oven. Baking soda only acts upon being mixed with something acidic (like brown sugar). The baking soda in the batter will lose strength the longer it sits before being baked.
You can chill this batter in the fridge if you’d like to get a jump start on breakfast or brunch the night before. You’ll likely lose a little browning on the muffins while they bake. If you’re curious about learning more about baking soda vs. baking powder, click here!
How to Store Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Can you Freeze Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins?
Place cooled Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Remove them to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. You can reheat in the microwave directly from the freezer (about 15 to 20 seconds) or thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven.
More Muffin Recipes You’ll Love:
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins
- Ultimate Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Double Chocolate Muffins
More Banana Recipes:
- Classic Banana Bread
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Butter Pecan Banana Bread
- Dulce de Leche Banana Cupcakes
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
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 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
This recipe was written in 2022 and updated in 2023 with additional baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Can I do this without baking soda? What would I sub with? I only have baking powder.
Hi Emilia! Baking powder and baking soda are very different leaveners and react differently at a chemical level, and therefore cannot be swapped easily. Learn more about that here!
Best of Choc chip muffins! Recipe is easily doubled but I always make a few simple tweaks. First of all…if you really want the banana flavour to pop, I suggest letting those banana skins be mostly dark brown before using them. They’re waaaay overripe, already very mushy & their sweetness is undeniable! Second…I only use Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips. They’re a bit pricey, but unfortunately, they’re the ONLY choc chips that MELT. I’ve tried every other brand. They all USED TO MELT…BUT THEY DON’T MELT ANYMORE! Only GHIRARDELLI brand melts to perfection, which is what you want to happen. Thirdly…I EMPHATICALLY HATE, LOATHE & DESPISE VANILLA! Arbitrary? Perhaps. But I use a same level combo of ROSEWATER & BANANA BACARDI RUM! I doubled the batch, so I used a tsp of each of those FLAVOUR ENHANCING magic elixirs! You try doing this impressive recipe my way & then you will thank me later. I kid you not! I wish I could show pictures of mine here with this comment, but unfortunately…you don’t account for letting the world see your success stories as created by others. Pity. Try this recipe folks. Enjoy making these & make sure you eat at least one…because they’ll all vanish before you ever get to have another!
The recipe makes perfect mini muffins with a nice height. Recipe made 48 (2 pans) + 4 extra minis . 13-14 minute baking time for mini muffins. . I prefer to bake mini muffins for co workers and the family – the extra energy you expend removing the papers burns calories, right? Standard sized muffins were delicious as well, but they sank a little in the center. Pan was too dark plus the only liners I had were foil lined for the standard sized pan. I’d use paper liners , as specified in the recipe, but a dark pan and foil liners were all I had the same time I had 3 gooey black bananas. I used Sugar in the Raw for a topping – perfect!
I’ve made these twice in less than a month. It’s a great use of my over ripe bananas. The first time I made them I added extra chocolate chips because, hey, who doesn’t like chocolate chips. Well there is such a thing as too much. The second time I followed the recipe. This makes a great afternoon snack. I love that I can freeze them too!
Have you tried making these with brown butter? Just wondering!
Hi Kerry! We haven’t tried that with this recipe! Because some of the water in butter evaporates as you brown it, it will take a little experimenting if you wish to try this out. Alternatively, Tessa does have a delicious Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins recipe!
these muffins are sooooo good! definitely my go-to recipe, I’ve made them several times and they always get devoured up so quickly 🙂
I was looking for the perfect recipe…found it! Thanks Tessa
I made these for my family and they really enjoyed them . I was wondering if I can make this recipe into banana bread.
Hi Debi! We haven’t tried turning this recipe into banana bread – but Tessa has several incredible banana bread recipes, including this one, which you can add chocolate chips to if you wish! Happy baking 🙂
I want to add walnuts to these, should I alter the bake time?
Hi Grace! No extra baking time needed, but I would recommend removing some of the chocolate chips, so the muffins don’t get too overwhelmed with mix-ins! You want to keep the balance of muffin-to-mix-in still around the same 🙂 happy baking!
I made these yesterday and they are great! Soft and moist with a delicious flavour, and SO quick and easy to make. I used cake flour, all white sugar and replaced the choc chips with chocolate chunks. 5 stars <333
woahh I just realised now the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon baking powder and I put 1/2 teaspoon!!
I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins anyway! Next time, try the full amount – you’ll probably be shocked at how tall the muffins get!! 🙂
So glad to hear that you enjoyed these muffins so much, Ammaarah!
These are delicious! I made them a few days ago and just went to have the last one- it is still just as moist and delicious as the first day. Thanks, Tessa!
Hooray – so wonderful to hear that, Kelly!! 🙂
Really delicious! I made into mini muffins and baked for 10 minutes and they were perfect.
So wonderful to hear that, Michelle!!