These double chocolate banana muffins taste like a treat, but they’re made with coconut oil, whole wheat flour, honey, and naturally sweet mashed bananas. Enjoy all of the rich chocolate flavor and moist texture of chocolate cake, but in a slightly healthier whole wheat muffin.
For an extra special treat, you can even try them with a peanut butter swirl! See below.
Let’s go ahead and call these a healthier version of regular double chocolate muffins. Today’s recipe was originally published in 2016, and it remains on regular rotation. I’m bringing it back from the archives with new photos and clearer instructions… because no one should miss out on these!
This is a great recipe to make for kids’ lunch boxes or after-school snacks. Or maybe even a first-day-of-school special breakfast. They’ll think they’re getting a chocolate cupcake, but you’ll know the truth! They also
Reader Krithika says: “…Intensely chocolatey and amazingly moist, better than many cupcakes I’ve eaten…”
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Made from basic ingredients
- Super moist with rich chocolate flavor
- Quick and easy, just like regular banana muffins & pumpkin muffins
- A more wholesome version of these double chocolate muffins
- Uses whole wheat flour for a nutritional boost
- A delicious way to use up your spotty bananas
- Dairy free if using dairy-free chocolate chips
Reader Sydney commented: “These are amazing!! They don’t taste ‘healthy’ or even like whole wheat muffins— you’d never know they weren’t just your typical bakery style double chocolate muffins. I would say they weren’t super banana-heavy on the flavor either, which was actually a positive for us…★★★★★”
Ingredients You Need & Why:
- Bananas: Bananas naturally sweeten the muffins. Make sure you’re using super brown speckled bananas—the riper, the better. The chocolate flavor overpowers the banana, so you can expect a chocolate-forward taste with hints of sweet banana in the background.
- Honey: Honey finishes up the sweetening job. Feel free to swap maple syrup or agave in its place.
- Egg: An egg helps to bind the ingredients together.
- Coconut oil: You can always rely on oil to keep your baked goods moist, especially when they’re made with drying ingredients like whole wheat flour and cocoa powder.
- Vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, & baking soda: Flavor and rising essentials.
- Whole wheat flour: I like to use whole wheat flour when I can, particularly when I make healthier versions of my favorite treats, like this whole wheat banana bread.
- Cocoa powder: Cocoa powder takes the place of some of the flour in the recipe.
- Chocolate chips: Chocolate chips add some texture throughout. Plus, more chocolate!
Only 1 cup of flour in this recipe? Yes, that’s right! Cocoa powder acts as a dry ingredient too.
Using Whole Wheat Flour Instead of All-Purpose
Whole wheat flour has a big nutritional advantage over refined white flour—it’s richer in protein, fiber, and minerals. It’s also heavier and heartier than white flour, so it works especially well in muffin recipes, which naturally have a denser texture than cake—take these morning glory muffins, bran muffins, or these applesauce muffins, for example. Whole wheat flour absorbs a lot of liquid, so it can dry out your baked goods. But in this recipe we’re canceling that out with the super moist content of the mashed banana.
How to Mash Bananas
I started doing this a while ago and it’s been a total game changer whenever I make banana muffins, breakfast cookies, or banana bread. Just use your mixer to mash bananas! Peel and break the bananas into chunks, place in your mixer, and beat until mashed. Beat the rest of the wet ingredients right into this bowl, then beat in the dry ingredients. So easy.
If you’d rather not use the mixer (it really isn’t necessary for this recipe), just mash the bananas in a big bowl with a fork. You need 1 and 1/2 cups, which is about 345g, or 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas.
The process is really easy. Whisk the wet ingredients and dry ingredients together in separate bowls, then combine it all. Fold in the chocolate chips, reserving some for the tops of the warm muffins.
Don’t forget about my high-temperature trick for sky-scraping muffin tops. Start baking the muffins in an extra-hot oven; the initial burst of high heat raises the muffin tops straight up. Then reduce the oven temperature to cook the centers of the muffins for the remaining bake time. It’s such a simple trick that produces beautiful, bakery-display-case-worthy muffins.
Expect a thick batter:
Peanut Butter Swirl Chocolate Banana Muffins!
If you love a chocolate-peanut-butter-banana combo like I do, you can add a peanut butter swirl to the tops of the muffins, and swap some of the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips.
Here’s how:
Melt 1/4 cup (about 62g) of creamy peanut butter (or use runny natural peanut butter) and spoon 1 teaspoon of it onto each muffin before baking. Using a knife or a toothpick, gently swirl it around into the batter. Top with a few peanut butter chips (optional).
These are a really fun treat! Kids and adults go nuts for that peanut butter swirl and no one ever realizes they’re whole wheat.
And if you can’t get enough of this flavor combination, try my peanut butter banana muffins next—with or without chocolate chips! Or if you’re heading into the fall season, these chocolate pumpkin muffins are always a favorite.
Are These Healthy?
I’d say these are a healthy-ish treat. Like banana chocolate chip breakfast cookies, blueberry banana muffins, and chocolate chip baked oatmeal cups, they are made with some alternatives to traditional baking ingredients like bananas and coconut oil instead of butter, honey instead of refined sugar, and whole wheat flour instead of white. However, they may be too sugary for someone who needs to watch their sugar intake.
When it comes to labeling recipes as healthy, use the best judgment for YOU. You can calculate the nutritional information for these with the exact products/brands you use with the help of an online recipe nutrition calculator.
For even more inspiration, see my 20+ favorite healthy dessert recipes.
Print
Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These double chocolate banana muffins taste like a treat, but they’re made with coconut oil, whole wheat flour, honey, and plenty of naturally sweet mashed bananas. See Note for peanut butter swirl version.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas)
- 1/3 cup (113g) honey (or maple syrup or agave)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (56g) coconut oil, melted (or vegetable oil, olive oil, or melted butter)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (130g) whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (41g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder (or dutch-process)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (save a few for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas up using a fork.* Try to mash up any large lumps. Once mashed, whisk in the honey, egg, coconut oil, and vanilla extract until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, reserving some for the tops of the warm muffins.
- Spoon the batter evenly into each cup or liner, filling each all the way to the top.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C); then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce heat to 350°F (177°C) and continue baking for another 15–17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20–21 minutes, give or take. (For mini muffins, bake 11–13 minutes at 350°F (177°C) the whole time.)
- Press any remaining chocolate chips into the tops of the warm muffins. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling, or enjoy warm.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Bananas: You can also mash the bananas in a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer. Not a fan of bananas? Try these healthier double chocolate chip muffins instead.
- Whole wheat flour: If you don’t have whole wheat flour, you can replace with the same amount of all-purpose flour.
- Can I skip the chocolate chips? Yes, feel free to leave them out or replace with chopped nuts.
- Peanut Butter Swirl Version: After step 4 and before step 5, melt 1/4 cup (about 62g) of creamy peanut butter (or use runny natural peanut butter) and spoon 1 teaspoon of it onto each muffin before baking. Using a knife or a toothpick, gently swirl it around into the batter. Top with a few peanut butter chips, if desired. Proceed with step 5.
- Why the initial high oven temperature? Like I do for most muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so they’re extra high, then the centers will bake during the lower temperature bake time. This trick makes beautiful bakery-style muffins every time.
- 2012 Version: An earlier version of this recipe published in 2012 was practically the same, only swapping 1/2 of the flour for all-purpose flour, applesauce instead of coconut oil, and 2/3 cup (about 130g) granulated sugar instead of honey. Today’s version yields a heartier, richer, moister muffin.
Sweet, moist and fluffy, very easy amd quick to whip up, good, wholesome ingredients. Wrote it down in my recipe collection. ❤
How do i substitute Almond Flour for Whole Wheat Flour?
Is there any resource link that can teach me the basic chemistry to alter the products and experiment myself from Ms. Sally?
Hi Dheeraj, almond flour isn’t recommended for these muffins.
Can I use gluten free flour instead of whole wheat?
Hi Linda, We haven’t tested that but let us know if you do!
had an extra banana kicking around the freezer which brought my total banana weight up to about 450g (4 largeish bananas), thinking this could replace the 113g of honey I did not add ANY sweetener (also added a pinch of instant espresso powder) the final muffin is very moist and chocolatey, but next time I will make sure to add some honey or sweet ingredient as it is definitely missing it. the higher bake temp start did yield beautiful tops and the whole wheat flour did not make these dense at all. looking forward to making these again as per the recipe – leaving a comment to deter others from making the same error!
Hi Sally. I always love your recipes and recommend them to others. If you only had two overripe bananas, how would you change the wet ingredients?
Hi Elaine, go ahead and make up the rest of the amount with unsweetened applesauce if you have that.
This definitely lacks sweetness. The honey was just not enough and the batch tasted more like cocoa powder than anything else. We added some sugar the second time around and sprinkled on some granulated sugar for sweetness and it did help somewhat.
This muffin recipe made with the peanut butter swirl, was an enormous hit with my family! So nutritious but it tastes perfectly naughty. Thank you!
Added 1/2 cup macadamian nuts. Yummy!
These were seriously delicious. I’ve made them as is with the egg and also with flax seed as a substitute and both versions were amazing. Hit with the whole family!
These muffins are moist and delicious! I love baking them and giving them to other people as a gift as well as for my family to enjoy. The only thing that’s different for me is that if I fill the muffin cups up to the top, I only get 10 muffins. I thought it was a regular size pan, but the only drawback is we don’t have the full 12 muffins to enjoy. They’re still awesome!
Can these be made in a Bundt pan?
I am trying to make a big batch of this recipe and was wondering if doubling the ingredients and baking these in a Bundt pan for 40-45 mins?
Hi Ashwini, you could, although it would be a pretty short Bundt. You could also make it in a 9×5-inch loaf pan. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but you could use the baking time and instructions from banana bread as a guide.
Maybe doubling the recipe would help?
You could try making 2 separate batches rather than doubling. If you have a bit too much batter, you can make a few muffins on the side. Let us know what you try!
How can I get calorie breakdown ? I love the muffins. Delicious !!
Hi Evie, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I’ve made these a handful of times now and have also shared the recipe (and the goods) with several friends. These are amazing and totally hit the spot when you’re craving something rich and chocolatey.
Loved these muffins ! Double chocolate banana muffins
Loved this recipe!! Perfect for a low carb diet when I’m craving something sweet, as long as I leave out the chocolate chips. I made them into mini muffins so they lasted longer . I was wondering if I could make these into blueberry muffins? I thought about leaving out the cocoa powder, swapping the chocolate chips for blueberries and adding some lemon or cinnamon. Would this work? I don’t love bananas so would leaving out the cocoa powder make the taste too strong? Thanks, love your recipes!!
Hi Ayla! We would make these healthy blueberry banana muffins instead. It would take testing to adapt this recipe, but let us know if you try anything!
Everytime I bake at the high temp first I end up with a muffin that looks like it’s wearing a top hat. Like a muffin top on a muffin……maybe my oven doesn’t cool fast enough???
Could be! You can always skip that step if desired.
could i use oil instead?
Hi Sherri! You can use coconut oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, or melted butter in these muffins.
could I use spelt flour instead of WW?
Hi Sherri, we have not tested that substitution and are unsure of the results. You can certainly give it a try, but the intended outcome of the muffins will likely be much different. Let us know if you do give them a go.
Awesome muffins!
I have not made them yet but everything is always 10/10! Wondering, can a mini muffin pan with no liners be used for these?
Hi Kayla, Absolutely. Try baking them for about 11-13 minutes at 350F.
These are delicious! I love to make these for my cross country team. I use olive oil and I usually bake them in mini muffin liners. Everyone loves them! I’m not even sure if people know that they are made with more wholesome ingredients.
I’ve been craving something with chocolate flavor for quite some time. These are amazing, super moist and not too sweet. A recipe to repeat!