These Banana Choc Chip Muffins are a go-to for busy weeks, especially when you’ve got ripe bananas to use up. They’re quick to make, the kids can get involved, and they hit that sweet spot between a healthy snack and a little treat. Moist, delicious and dotted with dark choc chips, they’re a guaranteed simple treat or lunch box win.
Plus they are easily adapted to suit many dietary requirements (se below)!
Health benefits
Ripe bananas bring natural sweetness, making it easier to keep added sugars on the lower side. They’re also a great source of potassium and fibre. Spelt flour offers more nutrients and is often easier to digest than regular all-purpose wheat flour, and the eggs and butter contribute to a more sustaining snack with some protein and healthy fats.
Ingredients
This muffin batter comes together with ripe mashed bananas, melted butter, a hint of cinnamon and vanilla, and is folded gently into white spelt flour with baking powder and dark choc chips for little pockets of melty goodness. Coconut sugar or rapadura adds sweetness without the refined stuff.
How to make Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Melt the butter and mix with the sugar, cinnamon, eggs and vanilla. Add the mashed bananas and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and choc chips, then create a well and gently fold through the wet ingredients. Like any muffin, keep the combining of the wet and dry ingredients nice and gentle and you’ll have those light, fluffy, golden topped sweet treats. Spoon into a muffin tin (well greased or lined with muffin cups) and bake until just cooked through (or a toothpick inserted comes out clean). If you own a Thermomix, we’ve included Thermomix instructions too. Cool on a wire rack.
Serving suggestions and how to store
These muffins are lovely warm from the oven or packed into lunch boxes as a ready-made snack. They store well in an airtight container in a cool, dark spot for a couple of days, or you can freeze them for up to a month – just defrost overnight or pop into a lunchbox frozen to thaw by morning tea.
Vary this Banana Choc Chip Muffins to suit
For a gluten-free muffin recipe, use a trusted wholefood based premix gluten-free flour, cassava flour (see notes below) or a combo of almond meal and buckwheat flour. If you’re dairy-free, sub the butter with olive or macadamia oil and choose dairy-free choc chips or cacao nibs. Chia eggs work beautifully as an egg replacement, and you can also swap the choc chips for chopped pecans, walnuts, macadamias or your favourite nut or seed.
For more delicious, healthy muffin recipes, click HERE.
Ingredients
- 125 g butter (½ cup), melted
- 75 g coconut sugar or rapadura (⅓ cup), approximately
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 egg/s
- 1 tsp vanilla – extract
- 300 g banana/s – very ripe, mashed well (2 large or 3 small)
- 200 g white spelt flour (2 cups), approximately
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ⅓ cup/s dark chocolate chips
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (fan forced). Line muffin trays with cases or squares of parchment paper.
- Mix together the melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, eggs and vanilla extract.
- Mash the bananas on a plate and add to the wet mixture, combining thoroughly.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and choc chips. Create a well in the middle of the flour.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold through gently until all ingredients are combined.
- Spoon into the muffin cases and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tray then transfer to a cooling rack until room temperature.
Thermomix method
- Use the scales of the Thermomix to weigh the flour into a mixing bowl, adding the baking powder and chocolate chips. Make a well in the flour and set aside.
- Add the butter to the Thermomix bowl and melt 1 minute, 90deg, speed 3.
- Add the sugar, cinnamon, eggs, vanilla and bananas (cut roughly) and combine 20 seconds, speed 5.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold through gently until all ingredients are combined.
- Spoon into the muffin cases and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tray then transfer to a cooling rack until room temperature.
Store
- In an airtight container in a cool, dark place for 2-3 days. These also are suitable to freeze.
Variations
Gluten-free
Use a good quality gluten-free premix or cassava flour (Note – we’ve had reports that Lotus organic cassava flour does not work with this recipe – we suspect this brand adds a lot of extra starch to the flour). Our Team uses AKN Organics, Cassava flour from Source Bulk Foods and Otto’s Cassava flour is also a great choice. Other members have made with the Honest to Goodness Cassava flour also with success). Or sub half almond meal and half buckwheat flour (this is my favourite gluten-free sub for spelt or plain flour).Dairy-free
Replace the butter with olive oil or macadamia oil and use a dairy-free choc chip or cacao nibs.Egg-free
Replace the eggs with chia eggs (2 tbsp ground chia seeds plus 6 tbsp water)Add nuts
You could replace some or all of the choc chips with nuts. I love these with chopped walnuts, pecan nuts or macadamia nuts.What did your family think of these delicious lunchbox treats?! Let me know in the comments below…
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Leigh Havelka says
Just out of oven and I couldn’t stop at one! Delicious. Made a note for myself to reduce sugar if using normal choc chips (all I had). so easy to make too.
Well Nourished Team says
So happy to hear you loved these muffins! Banana and choc = match made in heaven!
Angela Jordan says
I made the gf version using white wings plain gf flour. The mixture was very thick and once cooked, the texture was dry. The next time I made these I added a couple of tablespoons of plain yoghurt plus a punnet of raspberries – this seemed to do the trick – much tastier and moist. Does the original need some yoghurt or milk? Would almond meal and buckwheat flour substitute for plain gf flour?
Well Nourished Team says
Hi Angela, I’ve just looked at the ingredients in this flour, it’s almost all starch so it’s cannot be used as a direct sub for regular or spelt flour in baking. As you’ve found out, high starch flours suck the moisture from baked goods. Cassava flour or 50/50 almond meal and buckwheat is a much better (and healthier) substitution for this particular flour.
Angela Jordan says
Thank you Georgia – I made these again using half buckwheat and half almond meal (like I’ve done when baking your other recipes) and this was much better. Will avoid ready made gf flours now.
Well Nourished Team says
We are so glad to hear this worked out!
Angela Jordan says
I made these once more – this time with blueberries and rhubarb instead of chic chips! These were the best muffins I’ve made (GF with Half buckwheat and half almond meal)…so moist and kept fresh for a week!
Well Nourished Team says
Hi Angela, really great to hear you loved these and great substitutions!
Tara says
I try to make healthy snacks but they always turn out not that great. These unfortunately were like rocks. I followed the recipe exactly. Are these supposed to be more dense? My kids just want the fluffy muffin kind 😅
Well Nourished Team says
Hi Tara, banana muffins are naturally a little more dense than, a refined bakery muffin, but they certainly shouldn’t turn out like rocks. A couple of things to keep in mind: if you add too much banana, the batter can become heavy, so it’s best to weigh the banana for accuracy. Like with any muffin or cake, it’s also important not to over mix the flour as this makes them dense — very gently fold the dry ingredients in with a spatula until just combined.
That super light, fluffy texture you often find in commercial muffins is usually the result of lots of sugar and refined flour. This recipe https://wellnourished.com.au/raspberry-choc-chip-muffins/ keeps things more wholesome, but you’ll still find it produces a lovely, soft muffin that feels light without compromising on nourishment.