Banana chocolate chip muffins loaded with healthier ingredients in each serving. The batter combines whole wheat flour, yogurt, chopped walnuts, whole bananas, and dark chocolate chips. Each tender muffin is a great breakfast treat to start your day.
Banana chocolate chip muffins are easy to make and can be whipped up in minutes for a freshly baked breakfast treat. I always have bananas stocked on the counter, but not all of them get eaten at their peak, can you relate?
Don’t let those brown speckled overripe bananas go to waste, turn them into these delicious muffins. I’ve made a few healthier ingredient swaps to add whole grains and protein. You won’t believe how moist and flavorful they are. If you want a quick breakfast solution or snack, let’s get started, it’s time to bake!
How To Make Banana Muffins
There are a couple of substitutions that can be seamlessly incorporated into the muffin batter to add more nutrition to each bite.
Flour
Using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose provides whole grains and fiber in each serving. I use white whole wheat flour to give a milder and sweet flavor and lighter color to the banana chocolate muffins. From an appearance and texture standpoint, the changes are barely noticeable.
Protein
One medium-sized banana provides about 1.3 grams of protein, and this recipe contains four! A ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt which contains 15 grams of protein is a nice way to give an additional boost to each muffin. If you have ever used sour cream to make a cake moister, the tart yogurt does something similar, as the acid helps to tenderize the wheat proteins. Double bonus!
Nuts
Walnuts provide an excellent source of omega–3 essential fatty acids from alpha-linolenic acid for anti-inflammatory benefits. They are also good sources of B vitamins, molybdenum, manganese copper and antioxidant. I’ve been adding walnuts in my recipes whenever I can, like in my whole wheat banana nut bread.
The biggest complaint of baking with whole wheat flour is how dry the product can be. By adding ingredients like yogurt, eggs, sugar, and butter help to tenderize the cake. The order in how you mix them together really makes a difference in the rise and texture of your banana chocolate chip muffins.
I read a tip for baking with whole wheat flour that allowing the batter to sit gives the bran and endosperm time to hydrate and soften. I did the hydration step for about 10 minutes before baking this recipe, and I think it helped with a more tender texture. Make sure to fill the muffin cups all the way up with batter to ensure great rise and perfectly domed muffin tops!
To make these look and taste irresistible, I do two things. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top for texture and a roasted flavor. Add dark chocolate chips right on top of the batter. About six chips, adds a nice pop of color, shine, and gooeyness when eaten warm. Oh yeah!
Have I convinced you to give these muffins a try? I hope so! It’s also a wonderful recipe for meal prepping breakfast for the week ahead. Once I’ve had my share of freshly-baked muffins, I wrap the cooled ones individually wrapped in plastic and place them in a resealable bag and freeze them.
Whenever I need a quick bite, I microwave the muffins for 1 minute, and they are hot and tasty, just like the day I made them! What is your favorite muffin flavor? Other than these banana chocolate chip muffins, of course.
How to reduce fat in baked goods
If you’re looking to cut back on the added fat in baked goods, unsweetened applesauce is a healthy substitute. For quick bread-like muffins and cake, replacing oil would be a 1:1 swap with little change to texture and bake time. If replacing butter, remove only half of the butter as the texture will change more than with oil. Recipes using applesauce tend to have less browning, which may result in overbaking. Just make sure to keep an eye on the appearance, use a toothpick to see if it comes out clean from the cake to test for doneness, or you can use an instant-read thermometer to check if the internal temperature reaches 210°F.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cup walnuts, chopped (divided)
- 1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas, about 4 bananas
Instructions
- Set the oven rack to the lower position. Preheat to 375 °F. Line a 12 muffin cup tin with paper cups or lightly coat the tin with cooking spray.
- In a medium-sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, ¾ cup chopped walnuts, and 1 cup chocolate chips. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy, 30 to 60 seconds. Add in sugar and beat until dissolved 60 seconds. Beat in one egg at a time, until combined.
- Stir in vanilla, yogurt, milk, and mashed bananas until combined. Gently mix in dry ingredients, until just combined, do not overmix.
- Fill each muffin cup to the brim, then allow to sit for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts and chocolate chips, about 5 to 6 chips on top.
- Bake for 25 minutes and cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, or eat warm.
Notes
- Muffins can be stored for up to 2 days in an airtight container or frozen and reheated.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Lindsey says
These are simply some of the best muffins! I’ve made them again and again over the last few years. A couple tips on the flour that I’ve discovered… They turned out perfectly when using white whole wheat flour. One time I only had regular whole wheat flour and they seemed a bit drier and grainier. I made them again yesterday and still didn’t have the white whole wheat flour, so I used half regular whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour and they were amazing! I make a lot of muffins, but these are always the hands down favorite in my house. Thanks for such a great recipe, Jessica.
Jessica Gavin says
You’re so welcome, Lindsay! Great job improvising on the flour! Sometimes I also find that it helps to let the batter sit for 10 minutes before baking when using whole wheat. This helps to hydrate it a bit more so it doesn’t taste so dry.
Trish Fay says
I recently made these for my grown son sans the walnuts, he is very anti walnut :). He loved them. Moist and flavorful and the extra chocolate chips on top of the muffins were a nice touch. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes, Jessica.
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for your feedback Trish! So happy to hear that your son enjoyed the muffins, no walnuts of course 🙂
Mane Ortega says
The muffins look so delicious! Me and my husband just bought a giant thing of bread flour and I was thinking of making some muffins but dont want to go out to buy more flour lol (I literally have so much) so I was wondering if they recipe would require any changes if I decided to go with regular flour? Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Mane! So are you using bread flour or all-purpose flour instead of the whole wheat flour? If you use all-purpose flour no changes need to be made, the crumb will actually be lighter. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose, but closer to whole wheat flour (All-purpose flour has about 10-13% protein; bread flour has about 12-15%; whole wheat flour 13-14), so if you do a 1:1 substitution you may notice a similar crumb texture close to this original recipe.
Christos Foufas says
Hi Jessica, this recipe was awesome, super easy to make and able to add your own tweaks easily (I decided to use wholemeal flour &raw sugar). The muffins turned out fantastic and tasted delicious.
Thank you for the great recipe I will use again
Jessica Gavin says
That’s so great to hear Christos! I’m happy that the adjustments you made worked well with the muffin recipe. I’ll have to try it with raw sugar 🙂
Maria says
These look delicious, but I’m wondering if there’s a way to reduce the amount of sugar without compromising texture too much? Or if using another type of sugar would affect how much flour/fat I would need to use? I’m thinking of honey or maple syrup since they have a better nutritional profile than refined cane sugar?
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Maria! You could perhaps try reducing the sugar to 1/2 cup. You could also try coconut sugar, but the flavor will be a little more roasted. You could use honey or maple syrup, but they don’t cream as well not give the night light crumb like sugar does when combined with the butter. It’s easier to incorporate air with granulated sugar. I would love to hear how your testing goes!
Judy says
Hi Jessica,
Could I substitute almond flour or coconut flour?
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Judy! Great question. I have not tried these substitutions for this banana chocolate chip recipe yet. However after some research I can say that you cannot replace the almond flour or coconut flour 1:1 with the whole wheat flour. If you are looking for a gluten free option I would use a gluten free flour instead. Or if just want a small substitution try replacing 1/4 cup of the whole wheat flour with almond or coconut flour and see if it works. Almond flour has more fat so you have to reduce some butter and make sure you have enough egg. Coconut flour is very absorbent so you need to replace add more eggs. The texture will be different, but if you are willing to experiment until you get the right texture you want, go for it! Good luck!
Claire says
I’ve never been very good at baking, but I NEED to try these! They just look too good!
Thank you Jessia X
Jessica Gavin says
You don’t have to be good at baking to make these muffins! I know you will love these banana chocolate chip muffins. I can’t wait to hear what you think!