Brown, spotty, overripe bananas are perfect for making chocolate banana muffins! Tender, chocolatey, and complete with tall muffin tops, these are a treat. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Why You Want to Try These (Now!)
- The *actual* perfect texture! My chocolate banana muffins have a soft, moist, and tender texture. I include a few tips for achieving this, like avoiding over-mixing (a must with any muffin recipe!) and keeping a close eye on your oven temperature.
- Special technique for rich chocolate flavor. We’re blooming the cocoa powder (a technique I also use in my chocolate muffins — makes such a difference!).
- Only one muffin tin needed! Let the batter for the second batch of muffins rest (covered) while the first bakes. The second batch will bake up even taller as a result!
- Freezes nicely. Perfect for grab-and-go breakfasts or snacks. Just make sure to wrap your muffins well in plastic wrap (a layer of foil on top doesn’t hurt!) and store in an airtight container. They’ll keep this way for a few months.
Another variation of my beloved banana muffin recipe, these chocolate banana muffins are super straightforward and simple.
Ingredients
- Bananas. Overripe bananas are best for this recipe–the browner and spottier the better! This will provide the best banana flavor and add to the sweetness of the muffins too. I typically need about 2-3 bananas to get one cup, though this really depends on their size.
- Sour cream. While you won’t taste this in the final product, you will notice how it makes the muffins super moist and tender. If you don’t have sour cream, you could use full-fat plain Greek yogurt instead.
- Natural cocoa powder. Stick with natural cocoa powder here. If you use Dutch process cocoa, you may have issues with the muffins rising, since this recipe relies on baking soda (and acidic natural cocoa) for its rise.
- Boiling water. Or at least very, very hot water. If you’ve made my chocolate sourdough muffins or chocolate cake recipe, you’ll know that hot water helps us extract the most chocolate flavor from our cocoa powder (it’s called “blooming” and works like steeping tea or coffee grounds.).
- Chocolate chips. I like a blend of regular and mini semisweet chips, but use whatever you have on hand. White chocolate or peanut butter chips would be good, too!
SAM’S TIP: Instead of chocolate chips, you could sprinkle the tops of the muffins with some coarse sugar for a sweet crunch (or if you have a sweet tooth like me, do both chocolate chips and sugar!).
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Chocolate Banana Muffins
Make the batter
- Mash your bananas using a potato masher or fork.
- Add the sour cream, melted butter, lightly beaten egg, and vanilla and whisk well to combine. The mixture will be a bit lumpy from the bananas, and that’s fine.
- Combine the boiling water and cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl until smooth. This step blooms the cocoa powder and draws out its flavor, so don’t skip it!
- Stir the cocoa mixture into the wet ingredients until everything is combined.
Portion & bake
This recipe makes 15 muffins, so they won’t all fit in a single muffin tin. We’re going to take advantage of this and bake the muffins in two batches. This allows us to alternate the muffins in the tin (like I do with my mini muffins) so they have plenty of space to rise in the oven. The other half of the muffin batter rests on the counter while the first half bakes — this batter will bake into even taller muffins thanks to the resting period!
- Gently fold in the wet ingredients until 50% combined. Add the chocolate chips at this point, then keep gently folding until everything is just combined.
- Portion half the batter into a lined muffin tin, spacing out the muffins as much as you can (I do every other) so they rise nicely in the oven.
- Bake and let cool in the muffin tin for just a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack (leaving the muffins in the pan for too long can create greasy muffin liners). Repeat with your second round of muffin batter, then enjoy!
SAM’S TIP: Be very careful when combining the wet and dry ingredients, otherwise you could over-mix the batter and create dense, dry muffins. And whatever you do, do not use a mixer! This holds true for most quick breads, like my chocolate zucchini bread or chocolate pancakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
I recommend following my chocolate banana bread recipe instead, as that recipe makes the perfect amount for a loaf pan and includes baking instructions as well.
These chocolate banana muffins should be very moist. If yours are dry, they were most likely over-baked. Make sure to keep a close eye on your muffins while they bake and check them with a toothpick test and the shorter end of the time frame in the recipe. Ideally, you want your toothpick to come out with a few moist crumbs (but not wet batter).
If your baked goods often come out dry, consider investing in an oven thermometer (I have two!). Many ovens run hotter than they say, even if they are brand new.
I recommend it for the prettiest, tallest muffins. Besides, most muffin tins only hold 12 muffins, which means you would have to make two batches if you want to use all your batter anyway.
Love muffins? Check out my full collection of muffin recipes!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Chocolate Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup (260 g) mashed very ripe banana (usually about 2-3 bananas)
- ½ cup (120 g) sour cream
- ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder
- ½ cup (118 ml) very hot or boiling water
- 1 ⅔ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips blend of regular and mini + additional for topping
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line 8 wells of a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners, alternating wells. (This recipe makes 15 muffins so we will bake in 2 batches, filling only half of the tin with each batch.) Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together mashed banana, sour cream, butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Set aside.1 cup (260 g) mashed very ripe banana, ½ cup (120 g) sour cream, ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the cocoa powder to a separate, heatproof bowl or glass measuring cup. Add hot water and whisk until smooth.½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder, ½ cup (118 ml) very hot or boiling water
- Carefully pour cocoa mixture into banana mixture and whisk until completely combined. Set aside.
- In a separate, large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.1 ⅔ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
- Pour wet mixture into the dry ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold ingredients together. When batter is about halfway combined, add chocolate chips and continue to gently fold together until all ingredients are just combined, being careful to not overmix.
- Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each liner ¾ of the way full. Sprinkle each muffin top with a few additional chocolate chips, if desired. Remember you will only fill 7 or 8 liners this time, leave the remaining batter on the counter, covered with a towel or plastic wrap, to rest while the first batch bakes (this resting period will actually encourage even taller muffin tops for the second batch).1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- Transfer to center rack of 375F (190C) preheated oven and bake for 17-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean or with a few fudgy crumbs.
- Allow muffins to cool in muffin tin for 5-8 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Once the muffin tin has cooled completely, proceed with baking your second batch of muffins.
Notes
Muffin tin note
You will need to bake in two batches or use two different muffin tins to bake all of the muffins. By alternating the wells you use (instead of baking all of the muffins next to each other), it spaces out the muffins and allows them to bake more evenly and encourages the muffin tops to grow taller. It is fine for the batter to sit on the counter, covered, while you wait for your first batch to bake!Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. These muffins may also be tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Tricia
As usual, Sam, your recipe is perfect! Absolutely delicious….. Thank you for teaching us so much. Everyone loved!
Trish
Sam
I’m so glad they were such a hit, Tricia! 🙂
Graciella
Hi Sam! I enjoy your YT channel very much. I will be sure to message you when I have tried your recipes! I appreciate the testing you do before offering them to us!
I do not seem to be able to find natural cocoa powder , only Dutch processed. How might I use this instead? Any changes to be made to the recipe? Thank you so much! I have quite a few brown bananas that need a purpose!
Sam
Hi Graciella! If you use Dutch process cocoa, you may have issues with the muffins rising, since this recipe relies on baking soda (and acidic natural cocoa) for its rise. 🙂
KT
I’m normally not a fan of muffins made with natural cocoa (much prefer Dutch process) but these were spot on perfect. I’m also easily distracted while baking and love how your videos seem particularly suited to my occasional inattentiveness. 😂 Best muffins I’ve made in a long time!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂