Healthy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
A healthier muffin that's super tender, moist and bursting with chocolate flavor.
Ingredients
- 3 large very ripe bananas (lots of brown spots are best) about 1 3/4 cups, mashed or blended in blender
- 1/4 cup honey*
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil** melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour***
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch****
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips + 3 tablespoons more for topping
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (optional for additional chocolatey goodness)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a muffin pan with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper muffin liners. I like to use a silicone muffin pan and then there's no need to spray it or use muffin liners. I also like to dust the muffin pan cavities with a little cocoa powder.
- Mix wet ingredients together until well combined: ripe mashed bananas, honey, egg, oil and vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. Mix until just combined. Over-mixing will result in denser muffins. Stir in chocolate chips. I used 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (Trader Joe's) and an additional 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life).
- Pour batter into muffin cups (about a heaping 1/4 cup batter per muffin) and sprinkle additional 3 or 4 regular-sized chocolate chips over the tops of the muffins.
- Bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425 degrees F. and then with muffins staying in the oven, reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and bake muffins for 13-15 minutes more. The high heat will cause muffins to rise and then you will lower heat to cook the center of the muffin.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
*maple syrup will also work, but the muffins will be less sweet
**other oils or melted butter will work
***You can use a mix of all-purpose with whole wheat pastry flour. Make them gluten free by using Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour. (All-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour will yield the best results.)
****cornstarch is not a must, but yields the best results - used in combination with flour it softens the harsh proteins of flour, making a more tender baked good
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 213mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 15g