Perfect Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

These are hands down the best chocolate chip banana bread muffins out there! Moist and fluffy in texture, they are packed with delicious banana flavors and loaded with chocolate chips. I’m confident they will become your favorite banana muffins too.

To all banana bread lovers and muffin addicts out there, look no further. I turned your favorite banana bread into generous and fluffy muffins and the result is just awesome!

Over the last few years, I have tested several banana bread variations with great results and I’m always up for new recipe ideas around banana bread. But somehow, I was missing a classic banana muffin recipe, or should I say a classic banana bread muffin recipe. Muffins are always a little sensitive as they need to be fluffy but not dry, moist but not sticky and overall able to hold their shape.

These chocolate chip banana bread muffins are:

• Made with basic ingredients
• Moist and tender like my buttermilk banana bread
• Soft with a light crumb
• Packed with banana flavors
• Loaded with chocolate chips with a slightly nutty crunch
• Very simple and straightforward

How to turn a banana bread into a muffin recipe?

After a few attempts to turn my classic banana bread into muffins and a few tweaks along the way, I finally managed to obtain the perfect chocolate chip banana bread recipe. You could possibly use the exact same recipe but chances are that your muffins won’t have this fluffy crumb that is so characteristic to a muffin and will most likely need an additional lift.

So I played with baking powder and baking soda to make them a little fluffier than your regular banana bread without compromising the flavor and the moist texture. I went up to 1 teaspoon baking powder (instead of ¾ teaspoon baking powder in my banana bread) to add a necessary lift, and used only ½ teaspoon baking soda (instead of ¾ teaspoon baking soda). This is a minor change, but it does make the difference and yields perfect muffins.

Why use vegetable oil in these banana bread muffins?

My 2 favorite banana breads are baked with either softened butter (for the classic banana bread) or vegetable oil (for my olive oil banana bread). Both fats yield perfect banana bread. Generally speaking, cakes made with butter do taste better than oil cakes, but the texture of cakes made with oil is superior to the texture of cakes made with butter. In fact, oil-based cakes tend to bake up loftier with a more even crumb and stay moist and tender far longer than cakes made with butter. And I find it particularly true when it comes to muffins. This is why I went for vegetable oil in this banana bread muffin recipe.

Can I use butter instead? Yes you can. You can substitute vegetable oil with softened butter in the same proportions, exactly as I did in my banana bread recipe. Expect your muffins to be a little bit more bakery-style, with a slightly drier bite than the oil-based ones. In the end, it is mostly a matter of personal choice; some prefer with vegetable oil (I do), others with butter. Just do the test and join your team!

Toppings and possible variations:

In this banana bread muffin recipe I used a mix of chocolate chips/chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts. It yields some delicious sweet muffins that will be perfect for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. You can also play with the toppings and mix and match. Find below a few suggestions:

• Walnuts and cranberries: replace chocolate chip with the same volume of cranberries.
• Pecans and blueberries: replace walnuts with pecans and chocolate chip with blueberries.
• Hazelnuts and chocolate chips: replace walnuts with chopped hazelnuts.

And you, how do you like your banana bread muffins? Feel free to leave me a comment with your other topping ideas!

More banana breads & banana muffins:

• Buttermilk Banana Bread (Your #1 banana bread recipe!)
• Perfect Vegan Banana Bread (no eggs, no dairy)
• Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Double Chocolate Greek Yogurt Banana Bread
• Hazelnut Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
• Sugar-Free Almond Butter Banana Muffins
• Healthy Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Other ways to use ripe bananas

Need more inspiration to use over-ripe bananas? Make sure you check these All-Time Best Banana Recipes as well as these Easy Fluffy Banana Pancakes, which are always such a crowd-pleaser!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

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• Author: Delphine Fortin
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 15 muffins 1x
• Category: Desserts

These are hands down the best chocolate chip banana bread muffins out there! Moist and fluffy in texture, they are packed with delicious banana flavors and loaded with chocolate chips.

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Ingredients

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• 1 ½ cup (180g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 pinch of salt
• ¼ cup (40g) walnuts, chopped
• ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil, neutral in taste (sunflower, canola…)
• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 very ripe medium bananas, mashed with a fork
• ½ cup (120ml) buttermilk* (or substitute 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice + 1/2 cup milk)
• ⅔ cup (115g) chocolate chips/chocolate chunks

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a muffin pan or muffin liners if using. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add walnuts and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and sugar. Add vegetable oil, mashed bananas, and pour in the buttermilk*, little by little until fully incorporated.
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating until incorporated. Do not over mix.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips/chunks and divide the batter evenly between muffin liners, and fill up to the top, or almost. Top with a few additional chocolate chips or walnuts, if desired.
6. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before serving**.

Notes

* To prepare homemade buttermilk, pour one Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (or white vinegar/apple cider vinegar) in a measuring cup. Cover with milk until you reach ½ cup. Let sit for 5 minutes before using.

** Baking tips. The baking time is indicative here as it varies greatly depending on the oven and the size of muffin tins you are using. Do keep an eye on the muffins while they’re baking and look for a nice pale golden color on top. Over-baking will result in dense and drier muffins, while under-baking will make them collapse right out from the oven. Also, when a toothpick inserted in its center comes out clean, they are ready!

*** Storage/Freezing recommendations. Wrap these muffins in large hermetic ziploc bags and store for 5 days at room temperature or freeze up to 3 months. When ready to eat, remove from the freezer and let them thaw slowly at room temperature. You can also warm them up a few seconds (about 30 seconds) in the microwave to speed up the process.

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Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Perfect Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!