Ever since the pandemic set in and ever since most of us have been quarantined in our homes, I have seen a surge of banana bread on social media, news columns, and pretty much everywhere else. Banana bread has become one of the quarantine food trends. And, while I absolutely adore banana bread, a criminally underrated banana dessert/snack is banana muffins. Sorry, let me correct myself — banana chocolate chip muffins.
These banana muffins are delicious, light and fluffy, packed full of flavor, and chocolate, of course.
Bananas are a gem to bake with, they’re delicious, nutritious and they also happen to be a replacement for eggs! Bananas are lovely in baked goods, and banana chocolate muffins make for a delightful daytime, or nighttime, snack, and a hearty item to eat at breakfast.
The saying should be changed from “easy as pie” to “easy as banana muffins,” that’s how easy these muffins are to make. You don’t need any baking experience and you require the most basic tools to make my banana chocolate chip muffins. The ingredients in this recipe are also pantry-friendly.
Now, if you’ve purchased muffins from bakeries, you must have noticed that their muffins are super large and filling. I love those muffins, they’re sizable, and they look so gorgeous and rustic. For a long time, I thought making bakery-style muffins at home wasn’t possible because generic muffin molds that you find in stores and online are pretty small. But, I finally beat the cycle, and I figured out a way to make bakery-style muffins in the comfort of your home (hint: it’s the muffin tin liners).
Without more blabbering from me, let’s move on, shall we?
This post, like all my other posts, will have three parts:
What’s in a banana chocolate chip muffin?
What equipment do you need?
What’s the recipe?
What’s in a banana chocolate chip muffin?
It’s a banana muffin, so of course, there are bananas in it. I used four medium-sized bananas; rather than going off of the number of bananas, go by the quantity — cups, grams, whatever measuring system you use while baking. Try to use ripe, or even overripe bananas, the riper the banana, the more flavorful it is.
Next, the chocolate chips - I use standard dark chocolate chips. Dark chocolate cuts through the intense sweetness that comes from the bananas and the sugar in the muffin. You can also use chopped chunks of dark chocolate; or even milk chocolate if that’s what you like. I love a truckload of chocolate chips in my muffin, but you can feel free to add nuts or dry fruits in yours if you want to.
Like I said earlier, bananas are a replacement for eggs in terms of structure but not much else. I also add a little bit of yogurt and milk to the muffin batter; yogurt acts as an activator for the chemical leavening agents (baking soda and baking powder) in the batter. My banana chocolate chip muffins have a beautiful crumb; they are airy, fluffy, and full of chocolate speckles.
I also use neutral cooking oil in the muffins instead of butter. Using oil in any variety of cake results in an even crumb, and the muffin remains tender and moist for much longer. Use a neutral-tasting oil such as sunflower oil or vegetable oil, you don't want to use strong tasting oils such as olive oil as it will tamper with the flavors in the muffin.
This recipe also calls for all-purpose flour, but you can always substitute it for whole wheat flour.
Lastly, I add a secret ingredient to my muffins: cinnamon. Cinnamon does wonders for anything banana flavored; I like to add a dash of ground cinnamon, and it takes the banana chocolate chip muffins to the next level.
Let us now see what all equipment you’ll need to make this recipe!
Equipment
The equipment you need to make my banana chocolate chip muffins is like four items at most. You don’t need an electric mixer or fancy equipment. Your trustworthy wire whisk and rubber spatula should do the job.
You’ll, of course, need a muffin tin and parchment paper.
Yes, parchment paper and not muffin tin liners. Muffin liners tend to be of the same dimensions as the cavity in the tin; you’ll not only get a relatively smaller muffin but also stand the risk of the muffin top getting stuck to the tin’s rim.
What I do to get these insane bakery-style muffins is, I cut up a sheet of parchment into 15x15 centimeters squares. I securely press those squares into a greased muffin tin with my fingers and give it another coat of oil, so it sticks. If you do this, you’ll notice that this DIY muffin liner sticks out, it makes your muffin taller while making removal smooth and easy.
Here is every single piece of equipment you need to make these banana chocolate chip muffins:
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Ice cream scoop or ⅓ cup measure
Large mixing bowl
Muffin tin
Parchment paper
The Recipe for Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 9 large muffins
INGREDIENTS (Click For Grams To Cups Converter)
290 grams (1 ¼ cup) mashed bananas (approx. 3-4 medium bananas)
125 grams (½ cup) neutral oil (sunflower oil or vegetable oil)
100 grams (½ cup) granulated white sugar
40 grams(2 ½ tablespoons) room temperature milk
46 grams (3 tablespoons) yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
208 grams (1 ½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoon) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
200 grams (1 ¼ cup) chocolate chips
METHOD
Grease and line a muffin tin and preheat the oven to 200°C.
Add the mashed bananas, oil, sugar, milk, yogurt, vanilla, and cinnamon to a mixing bowl and whisk for two minutes until combined.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the salt.
Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula.
Next, incorporate the chocolate chips gently with the spatula. Do not over mix.
Scoop in roughly 76 grams or ⅓ cup of the muffin batter into the prepared tin.
Bake at 200°C for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, and the muffins look golden brown on the outside.
Notes
In case you don’t have any parchment paper but have muffin tin liners, you can use them. Be sure not to overfill the cups, fill them ¾ the way and make sure to adequately grease the muffin tin (and its rim) before placing the liners in it. You’ll also yield more muffins since they’ll be smaller.
That’s it, that’s the recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins. They’re easy, they’re ready in no time, and they taste heavenly. Let me know what you thought in the comments. If you try any of my recipes, please share your experiences with me on Instagram or Facebook!