Healthy One Bowl Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

This healthier Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins recipe is delicious, fluffy, and moist.  Utilizing overripe bananas, dark chocolate chips, and applesauce to replace some of the fats, these muffins are sure to please. 

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These Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins can be eaten as a great breakfast with a cup of coffee or as an afternoon snack.  You can even have it as a dessert with a glass of milk!  Using simple ingredients and plenty of chocolate chips, these best banana chocolate chip muffins are perfect for the entire family. 

One of the best parts about these Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins is that they are so easy to freeze.  If you want to fill your freezer with easy snacks and breakfasts, double the recipe, and once they have baked and cooled, wrap and freeze!  Super simple and makes future snacks and breakfasts less complicated. 

What makes these Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins Healthy?

Usually in muffin recipes, there is quite a bit of butter or oil that goes into it.  Fats in baked goods are what give moistness to the delicious treats!  But to make these slightly healthier, yet still indulgent, we’re cutting the fat in half by replacing it with applesauce.  We won’t lose any moisture since we’ll still add some canola oil, but the applesauce and mashed bananas will bump the moisture factor.  This leaves us with a spongy, decadent muffin.

The Players for this Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:

• Bananas – I want to taste the banana flavor in this moist banana muffins recipe, so I use 3 over-ripe bananas, almost black bananas, for this recipe.  Truly, the older the banana is, the more prominent of a banana flavor you’ll get.
• Brown Sugar – I like to use a combination of both light brown sugar and white sugar.  Brown sugar brings a very slight molasses flavor to these delicious muffins.
• White Sugar – White granulated sugar will help sweeten the muffins.
• Applesauce – We’re using applesauce as a replacement for some of the fats used in this one-bowl recipe.  
• Canola Oil – Even though we’re using applesauce, I still want a little bit of fat to create these moist muffins.  You can also vegetable oil.  I haven’t tried melted coconut oil, but if you have before, let me know how that turns out!  Maybe I should give that a try next time!
• Egg – You’ll only need one large egg for this banana chocolate chip muffin recipe. I also like my egg to be room temperature, so leave your egg out for about 10-15 minutes before you  begin your baking.
• Vanilla Extract – I love using vanilla extract in all my baked goods!  It brings a nice warmth and enhances the overall flavor of all the baked goods. 
• Cinnamon – Just 1/2 teaspoon is used in these healthy banana muffins.  
• Flour – I use all-purpose flour in this recipe. I’ve never tried whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour before, but if you have, let me know!  
• Baking Powder – Using baking powder in this banana muffin recipe will help our muffins rise high.
• Baking Soda – This leavening agent will help our muffins rise. 
• Salt – Using a little bit of salt will help bring all of these ingredients together to create the ultimate dark chocolate chip banana muffin!
• Dark Chocolate Chips – You can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chunks.  If you decide to go with chocolate chunks, I would cut back from 1 1/4 cups to 1 cup. 

Tools:

• These are my absolute favorite muffin tins! Any muffins I bake in these always come out perfectly and slip out so easily.
• I like using these types of muffin liners for any muffins or cupcakes I bake. Additionally, you can make your own muffin liners with parchment paper and cut into 5 inch squares.

How to make Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and place your oven rack in the middle of your oven. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 muffin liners and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside. 

In a stand mixer or large bowl, mash the bananas with the paddle attachment or wooden spoon. Add in the brown sugar and white sugar to your mashed bananas, and mix until well combined. 

*Not associated with his delicious muffin recipe: keep your banana peels and make banana tea water for your plants! Add your peels to a jar, fill with filtered water, and keep in a place out of the sun for a week. Water your plants with the water and watch them thrive!

Next, add in your applesauce, oil, egg, vanilla extract, and cinnamon and mix thoroughly.  

To our wet ingredients, we’re now going to add in all of the dry ingredients. Add in your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix low for 1 minute, scraping down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  You will see small lumps but that’s okay, don’t overmix. 

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in your dark chocolate chips until combined, without over-mixing. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each cup almost all the way to the top.

Place your healthy banana chocolate chip muffins into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. 

Using the toothpick test, place a toothpick into the center of the muffins.  If the toothpick comes out clean, the muffins are done. Place on a wire rack to cool completely before eating. Enjoy!

How to Store and Freeze Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Your dark chocolate chip banana muffins will last for 4 days on the countertop in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap.  If you don’t plan on eating them, freeze them for later!

To do this, wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and place the muffins inside a large gallon freezer bag. They will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.  To reheat a frozen muffin, take as many muffins as you want out of your freezer bag and leave on the counter to defrost completely.  Warm it up for about 10 seconds at 50% power in the microwave to get that lovely, warm banana muffin taste.

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If you end up making these Healthy Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, leave me a comment, I’d love to chat with you!

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Romans 8:31 - "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?