These Chocolate Banana Muffins take everything you love about banana bread and turn it into a chocolate lover’s dream. They’re moist, rich, and loaded with unbelievable chocolate flavor. Need a quick, satisfying breakfast or grab-and-go snack that doesn’t compromise on taste? Chocolate Banana Muffins are the answer!
Why You’ll Love Chocolate Banana Muffins
I’ve been making and sharing banana bread recipes for years, and let me tell you, these Chocolate Banana Muffins are an absolute standout! Quick and easy to make, you’ll have great results that your friends and family will rave about.
What I Love:
- Made with simple, pantry-friendly ingredients so no special trip to the store required.
- You can have a batch ready in just 30 minutes.
- Sour cream keeps these muffins incredibly tender and moist!
- They’re great for meal prep – they stay soft for days and freeze wonderfully.
- If you love banana recipes, you’ll be happy you added this recipe to your collection.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This is a discussion about the ingredients. For the actual recipe with amounts, please see the recipe below.
- Butter – For this recipe you will be using softened butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter, but if salted is what you have on hand it will work just fine.
- Sour Cream – I highly recommend using full fat sour cream. I’ve tested multiple banana bread recipes using fat free sour cream or fat free Greek yogurt, and every time I find the texture to be disappointing. The fat really helps give you that amazing tender texture.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar is used in this recipe.
- Eggs – You’ll use two large eggs, and I recommend they be at room temperature.
- Vanilla – Whenever possible, use pure vanilla extract.
- Ripe Bananas – The riper, the better! The ones used in the photo are actually not ripe enough. You want them somewhere from spotty to dark brown. The riper they are the sweeter and creamier they are, which really makes for spectacular banana bread.
- All-Purpose Flour – Simple all purpose flour works perfectly.
- Cocoa Powder – Make sure you have unsweetened cocoa powder. Personally I prefer to use a dark or dutch cocoa powder, but any unsweetened cocoa powder will work.
- Baking Powder & Soda – These help your muffins rise. Make sure to check the expiration dates.
- Salt – Salt always helps balance the sweetness in baked goods and gives more depth of flavor.
- Milk – I prefer using a 2% or whole milk. Also if you have buttermilk on hand, you can absolutely use that here.
- Chocolate Chips – I recommend using semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips. I find milk chocolate to be a bit too sweet, but that’s a personal preference. You can use standard size or minis. I like using minis as they spread out through the muffins and you get some chocolate chips in every single bite. If desired you can add additional chocolate chips to the top of your muffins, but you can skip that. If you’ll be storing in the freezer or using in lunch boxes, I recommend leaving the chocolate chips off the top – they are just less messy that way.
How To Make Chocolate Banana Muffins
This is a discussion about how this recipe is made. For the actual recipe with full details, please see the recipe below.
Step 1: Combine wet ingredients.
Step 2: Add dry ingredients.
Step 3: Mix until just combined.
Step 4: Divide batter in muffin pan and bake.
Christi’s Tips For Success!
Ripe Bananas – This is one of the most important tips – you want RIPE bananas. Bananas that looks like they are ready for the trash. Those are the perfect bananas and will make the best Chocolate Banana Muffins.
Don’t Overmix – You can mix the wet ingredients well, but once you add the dry ingredients take care to not overmix. Mix just enough so that all the ingredients are combined. Overmixing creates leads to an increase in gluten development, which can lead to tough or gummy results.
Temperature Change – This recipe starts with a five minute blast of high heat at 425 degrees, then the temperature is reduced to 350 degrees. The initial high heat let’s the leavening agents activate quickly and help get the rise started. The temperature is then reduced to allow the muffin to bake evenly throughout without drying out.
Rise High – If you want the best rise, give the batter a rest for 15 minutes prior to scooping it into the muffin pan. This gives extra time or the starches to absorb the moisture and let’s the leavening agents get a bit of a head start. If the baking powder you are using says “double acting” on it, you can even let the batter rest overnight in the fridge prior to baking.
Measure Flour Correctly
For the best results, make sure to measure flour correctly using the following steps:
- Fluff the flour by giving it a stir. This will aerate it so that it’s not compacted.
- Using a spoon, spoon flour into a measuring cup until it’s overflowing. Do not scoop the flour with the measuring cup as this will compact it, giving you more than you need.
- Level the flour using a flat edge, such as a butter knife or spoon handle.
Following these steps helps to avoid adding too much flour to the recipe, which can result in dry and dense baked goods. If measuring by weight this should be in the 125-135 gram range. Get all my flour tips, tricks and info here!
Storage Tips
Storing: If you are consuming these chocolate banana muffins within 2-3 days, you can store them covered at room temperature. If you are keeping them for more than a few days, I prefer to store them in the fridge, in an airtight container or freezer bag. When ready to eat you can either let them sit at room temp for a while, or pop them into the microwave for a few seconds.
Freezing: These muffins freeze wonderfully. Make sure you cool them completely, then transfer to an airtight container. They are best consumed within six months.
More Banana Bread Recipes
Looking for more recipes packed full of banana flavor? Here are some great options!
Chocolate Banana Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin Pan
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat gives the best results)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large ripe bananas (mashed)
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can use a full cup if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan with paper muffin liners.
- In a separate bowl, mix white whole wheat flour, dark cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine wet and dry ingredients, add in milk and stir until just combined, do not overmix.
- Scoop into a muffin pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Store loosely covered or in refrigerator.
- Combine mashed bananas, softened butter, sour cream and sugar, mix until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Mix until the ingredients are all combined, but do not over mix.
- Let batter sit for 15 minutes, then divided batter equally in prepared muffin pan. If desired, sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top of muffins.
- Bake for 5 minutes then REDUCE the temperature to 350 degrees.*
- Bake for an additional an additional 13-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
- Remove pan from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Allow muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes prior to removing from muffin pan.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Originally published November 2014. Post updated in 2026 to add additional photos and slight adjustments to recipe.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Do you add the chocolate chips in the batter or put it on top of the batter. It does not state it on the recipe. Thank you.
Toss in and stir, they are one of the ‘dry ingredients’. 🙂
I made these today because I had 2 over ripe bananas to use up. The recipe worked fine with one less banana than called for, but I added a tad more yogurt to make up for the lost moisture. They are delicious! Just wish you would have put in the instructions 1) when to add the chocolate chips (I added last!), 2) how full to fill the pans (I did 3/4 full), and 3) how many muffins this makes (I got 18). Can’t wait to have one in the morning with my coffee 👍🏻👍🏻
I’ve tried this recipe and it tasted amazing, although for my case, the muffins were quite liquidy and humid (??), as if they needed a bit more flour or heat. They have also dropped as soon as I took them out of the oven. I don’t understand why. Do you have tips on how to make it better next time?
Hi Lisa, it sounds like you need to bake them a bit longer. It’s rare for ovens to all be perfectly at temperature, some cook warmer, cooler and some swing both ways. I’d simply up your baking time next time by a few minutes. Hope that helps!
In chocolate banana muffins you list baking powder as an ingredient, but do not list in instruction you do not mention. Should I include when I add baking soda and salt?
Yes! 🙂 Thanks for catching that, I edited the recipe.
Can i use buttermilk instead of milk? Thanks!
Cloey, you can. Since buttermilk is a bit thicker, sometimes I find that I might need to add a little more when I sub it for milk.
I’m a HUGE chocolate and banana fan! The combination is just so perfect! So basically, I would devour these muffins!
They look delicious!
Love your blog – just found it!
Oh my word, these look so delicious!!!
Yum yum yum! These look so delicious!
I love how the chocolate chips are jumping off the top of these muffins! And any excuse to have chocolate at breakfast time is a win in my book!