wheatfree

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.

Print Recipe

4.67 from 3 votes

Banana Choc Chip Muffins

These easy Banana Choc Chip Muffins are soft, fluffy and naturally sweetened with ripe bananas. Perfect for lunch boxes or an after-school snack, they're a kid-approved treat that’s quick to whip up and freezer-friendly too.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Servings: 10 muffins

Author: Georgia Harding

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

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• 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.

Notes

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…