Best Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Are you struggling to find a quick, delicious treat? In just 30 minutes, you can whip up these bakery-style Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins! They’re irresistibly tender, fluffy, and packed with gooey chocolate chunks, making them the perfect treat for any time of day. Best part? No mixer needed!

With over 40 years of baking experience and the real-life challenge of raising two picky eaters, I’ve meticulously tested these Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins at both sea level and high altitude to ensure they turn out perfectly every time.

These muffins are inspired by my popular banana bread recipe, refined over countless hours in the kitchen to achieve the perfect balance of flavors and textures.

As a seasoned baker, I understand the importance of reliable, foolproof recipes that consistently deliver. Whether you’re serving these muffins for breakfast or an after-school snack, they are sure to become a new family favorite. My testers family gobbled these up!

I enjoy giving precise details in my recipe posts to lead my readers through any questions. If you’re just here for the printable recipe, use the Jump to Recipe to head straight there!

Ripe Bananas 101

Do your bananas seem to go from perfect to mush in no time? Mine too! Here’s a tip: keep that little plastic piece around the stems to slow ripening. If it’s missing, pop your bananas in the fridge once they’re ripe. The skin may turn brown, but the inside will stay fresh longer!

The browner the banana, the better it is for baking! As bananas ripen, their sugars develop, making them extra sweet. And honestly, who wants to eat those soft, smooshy, spotted bananas? Not me! But in banana bread? Absolutely, yes!!

So the next time you have a countertop with a bunch of questionable, brown, or overripe bananas, bake these muffins!

How to Make Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C) and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

In a mixing bowl, peel and mash the bananas with a fork until there are no large lumps. Measure 1 ½ cups and return it to the bowl, discarding any extra.

Step 2

Add the egg, yogurt, sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla to the bowl with the mashed bananas, then mix until everything is fully incorporated.

Step 3

In a separate, large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk together.

Step 4

Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula until there are no lumps or streaks of flour.

Step 5

Fold in the chocolate chunks and continue mixing until distributed. Avoid over-mixing.

Using a rounded 2-ounce scoop or spoon, divide the batter between the muffin wells and top with additional chocolate chunks if desired.

*2 ounces is roughly, 4 tablespoons, the size #16 cookie scoop.

Step 6

Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 16-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Remember, all ovens bake a little differently, and your pan makes a difference, too! Dark or coated pans (like the one below) will bake muffins quicker, so keep a close eye on them.

Variations & Substitutions

• Gluten-free banana chunk muffins: Replace the flour with a 1 to 1 ratio GF all-purpose flour, like King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill!
• Oil: Use your favorite oil! One of my testers, made using coconut oil and loved them. You can even use melted butter if you prefer!
• Whole Grain: To make a whole grain muffin, replace the flour with whole wheat flour. You will probably need a little more liquid, so increase the yogurt by a few tablespoons.
• Chocolate: I love to use chunks of chocolate here for large, melty bites of chocolate. However, you can replace the chunks with regular chips! If you want a sweeter muffin, try milk chocolate. For a less sweet muffin, opt for dark chocolate! It would also be fun to melt a bit and drizzle over the top!
• Nuts: If you like nuts in your banana bread, then you can add some chopped nuts to these muffins! I recommend walnuts or pecans.

Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffin Success Tips

1. These bakery-style muffins bake up tall, so it’s okay to overfill the cups slightly. Just divide the batter evenly. My sea-level tester got almost 22 muffins by filling the tins with less batter, making them a bit smaller.
2. Oven Temps Vary: If you don’t have one, get an oven thermometer (this is the one I use) to test your oven’s temperature. Most ovens run at 25° F, hot or cold.
3. Fully Preheat Your Oven: I have had the misfortune of having several ovens go out on me, and the repair guys have been consistent in saying that ovens take at least 30 minutes to come to their full temperature. Ignore that preheat beep; set a timer and allow your oven to preheat for a full 30 minutes. I promise you will see a difference!
4. Don’t Overbake! Check your muffins after 16 minutes and remove them when nicely domed and golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Watch out for those chocolate pieces, though.
5. Avoid overmixing the batter to prevent tough muffins. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately before combining.
6. Active Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Leavening agents older than 1 year should be tossed. If you want to test whether yours is active, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to 2 teaspoons of vinegar in a small jar or glass – active soda will fizz up violently; if it doesn’t, it’s bad. For baking powder, add ½ teaspoon to a jar, and pour over 1 tablespoon to ¼ cup of boiling water, it should foam and fizz.
7. Use a 2-ounce cookie scoop with a trigger release for easy portioning. For this recipe, use a rounded scoop to overfill the muffin wells, about ¾ full slightly.
8. When measuring, avoid overpacking the flour. The “spoon and level” method or using a kitchen scale can help ensure you get just the right amount of flour for the recipe.
9. The color of your baking tin affects cooking time. Dark pans transfer heat more efficiently, so muffins may bake faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

High Altitude Adjustments for Banana Muffins

These muffins have been tested at high altitudes (5280 ft) at 2000 feet and at sea level. Here are my suggestions:

• Reduce granulated sugar to ⅓ cup.
• Increase flour by 2 tablespoons.
• Decrease baking powder to ½ teaspoon.

Watch your time in the oven, and remove muffins when they are puffed and golden on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Storage Tips

• To Store: Once the banana and chocolate chip muffins are cool, store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag on the countertop at room temperature, for up to 3-4 days.
• To Freeze: These banana chocolate chunk muffins can also be frozen. I like placing them back in the muffin tin and popping them into the freezer for about 20 minutes or until partially frozen. Flash-freezing them before placing them in a resealable freezer bag will help prevent them from sticking together. Once transferred to a freezer bag, these muffins can be frozen and stored for up to 2-3 months. Simply thaw at room temperature; they won’t take long. 

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