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The best and (easiest) One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffins …for your Friday chocolate fix. One bowl, pantry staple ingredients, super quick to mix up, healthy…ish, and SO DELICIOUS! That sums up these warming banana muffins in a nutshell, they’re the perfect muffin to bake up this weekend. With over-ripe bananas, good honey, chai spices, and your favorite dark chocolate bar, these are going to become your favorite weekend muffins. A sweet treat for breakfast, a yummy afternoon snack, or even a late-night dessert…with an extra smear of salted-honey-butter.

side angle photo of One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffins

Just because it’s January and we’re all focusing on enjoying healthier foods doesn’t mean we should deprive ourselves of the sweeter things in life. At least that’s the thinking around here. I know some will argue this, but as far as healthy desserts, these muffins are the perfect wholesome treat to enjoy any day of the week.

With my mom being the dessert lover that she is, it’s been ingrained in me to always want something a little sweet after dinner. Sometimes that’s something as simple as a piece of fruit, or a banana with a couple squares of dark chocolate, or maybe a warm mug of hot chocolate. Just something a little sweet.

But when I have super ripe bananas, I LOVE baking banana bread. Last year I perfected the BEST loaf of banana bread. And this year I’m sharing the BEST banana muffin…that’s sweet, moist, perfectly spiced with winter chai spices, and heavy on the dark chocolate. These are healthy…ish and a great January treat.

overhead photo of One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffin batter before baking

The secret to a really good banana muffin?

Overripe bananas. I’m talking completely brown, almost black, mushy bananas that look far past their prime. The bananas that you’re sure you should have tossed? Yup, those are the bananas you should use for your muffins. I call them banana bread bananas.

When the bananas are super brown, they’re the sweetest they’ll become. They have extra moisture and are soft and easy to incorporate into your muffin batter. If you use a green banana, your muffins won’t be nearly as moist or sweet. So brown bananas are KEY.

photo of salted honey butter

The details.

As mentioned, these muffins are the easiest. You need only one bowl, pantry ingredients, and less than an hour of time. You’ll start with the wet ingredients. Mash up the bananas, add melted coconut oil for moisture, honey for additional sweetness (plus added health benefits), eggs for a perfect texture (and even a bit of protein), and vanilla for flavor.

Then stir in the dry ingredients. For my muffins, I like using white whole wheat flour. I always find that it bakes up so nicely and never leaves my baked sweets dry or crumbly. Of course, you could use your favorite gluten-free flour blend too.

Now, the spices. I love using the warming spices commonly used in chai tea… cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, all-spice, and nutmeg. It’s the time of year when things are bitter cold, so these warming spices are what I crave when baking. Plus, cooking and baking with spices is not only incredibly healthy (spices are full of antioxidants that help fight off those winter colds and keep us healthy), but they also make your home smell amazing too.

Once the dry ingredients have been mixed into the wet, stir in the dark chocolate chunks. And that’s it – done. Now you have chai-spiced banana muffin batter. Time to bake.

overhead photo of One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffins

Let’s talk about that salted honey butter…

The muffins only take about twenty or so minutes to bake, but while they’re baking you should make yourself some salted honey butter. Is it absolutely necessary? No not at all, but will it make your muffins feel extra special and even more delicious? Definitely!

What’s not to love about creamy butter, sweet honey, and a pinch of flaky sea salt? It’s just what your healthy..ish banana muffin needs. Trust me on this.

overhead close One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffins

The plan? Enjoy the first Friday of January by staying in tonight and baking up these easy muffins. Fingers crossed it’s a snowy night for you all too. Because I must say, these muffins are especially delicious on cold and snowy Friday nights. The best tip I can give you? Eat these warm, right out of the oven with the chocolate all gooey, along with a good smear of salty honey butter too.

Also, double the recipe. Make a double batch tonight and saving the leftovers for a quick weekday breakfast or afternoon snack. Or? Gift the extra batch to your neighbor, best friend, or whoever you pass on the street. January can be a bit of a depressing month with the short, cold days and the holidays behind us. It’s always nice to do something thoughtful for others, even if it’s as simple as baking (delicious) banana muffins.

side angled close up of One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffins bitten in half

If you make these one bowl chocolate chunk chai banana muffins, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffins

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories Per Serving: 316 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Salted Honey Butter

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
    2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, coconut oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, all-spice, and salt, mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks. 
    3. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
    4. Meanwhile, make the honey butter. In a small bowl, combine the butter, honey, and salt. 
    5. Serve the muffins warm or at room temperature smeared with honey-butter.

Notes

To Make Gluten Free: Use an equal amount of your favorite gluten free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour. I recommend Cup4Cup gluten free flour
Storing: these muffins keep well for 3-4 days at room temperature. 
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horizontal photo of One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Chai Banana Muffins

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Comments

  1. 2 stars
    I’d say if you love banana bread and chocolate, this will be a hit. However, as a Chai lover, this was very mild in that department. I would probably halve the amount of chocolate in the recipe and double up on the cinnamon if I made this again.

    1. Hi Akira,
      Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear there was not enough chai for you! xx

  2. 3 stars
    I swapped honey for maple syrup, as another commenter did, and found they turned out quite bitter with an unpleasant metallic aftertaste (possibly the baking soda?). Might try again with some modifications.

  3. 5 stars
    So yummy! Thank you! Love the spices and wholesome ingredients. Most banana bread recipes have so much sugar and this one is beautifully, naturally sweetened and is PERFECT.

    I did some modifications with success! Used 1 c. whole wheat flour and 1/2 c. all purpose flour, 3 ripe bananas (because that’s all I had!), swapped maple syrup for honey and avocado oil for coconut oil, used fresh grated ginger, and baked everything in a baking dish for 20 min.

    Will be making again for sure!

    1. Hi Holly,
      Awesome!!😎 Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT

  4. 5 stars
    I did banana bread instead of muffins and I used gluten free flour. It came out beautifully! ♥️ Thank you!

    1. Hi Joyanne,
      Happy Monday!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for trying it out! xx

  5. 5 stars
    So delicious! I usually make the loaf, but decided to go for the muffins and they are so yummy. The combo of spices and chocolate works so well and the instructions were super clear and easy to follow. Thanks so much!

    1. Hi Kirse,
      Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe, I’m so glad it turned out well for you! Have a great weekend:)

  6. 5 stars
    I have been making these muffins WEEKLY (upon request, and because I love them so much) for… 6 months? So dang delicious! Here are a couple of tricks that I’ve discovered, in case they are helpful to anyone else with dietary restrictions. I have found a way to make these Gluten Free, Egg Free and Dairy Free without sacrificing any of the ahhhhh-mazing flavours!!:

    1. DOUBLE the spices – this is for anyone. The flavours are sooooo delicious and I find doubling them makes these muffins extra tastey.
    2. I use EnjoyLife chocolate chunks (chopped) and/or mini chips to get extra chocolate in there, plus they are free of all allergens.
    3. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour and you can replace the flour content perfectly.
    4. I started using psyllium husk as egg replacer because my hubby is showing signs of egg allergy but still wants the muffins! I use 1 tsp. psyllium husk:6 Tbsp water. Let it sit for ~10 minutes while I pull the rest of the ingredients together and voila! You now have GF, DF and Egg Free delicious muffins!

    Thank you Tieghan for this delicious recipe! I’ve been meaning to leave a review for… 6 months hahaha

    1. Hey Rachel,
      Happy Monday!!🌞 Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your review, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! Thanks for sharing all of your handy notes! xx

    1. Hey Christine,
      Yes, 1 serving is 1 muffin, but I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT

  7. 4 stars
    Scrumptious! I used the whole-wheat pastry flour and half a chopped bar of Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate; that was less than the cup that the recipe called for but it was plenty sweet for me. The ginger and cinnamon came through nicely; next time, I’m going to double the cardamom and the allspice. The muffins domed nicely and looked so pretty. I didn’t make the honey butter this time (no salted butter), but because I WILL be making this recipe again, I’ll make the honey butter next time.

    1. Hey Marsha,
      Happy Sunday!!🏈 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xx

  8. 5 stars
    Tieghan, I made these this week and they’re delicious! My only edit was subbing in 80 g of power flour (Kodiak cakes) for a bit of an extra protein boost. They’re moist, flavorful, and that butter is the icing on the cake lol! They definitely brighten my day during these post-holiday blues! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  9. 5 stars
    OMG!!! The baking soda was older than it should have been, the allspice even older *blushes*, the honey was crystallized and had to be micro-ed for a few and then it was 1 tbs short of 1/4 cup but used maple syrup to make it up the difference AND SOMEONE ATE 1/2 of the dk chocolate AND ONE OF THE BANANAS!! Thank the goddess I had semi sweet chocolate chips to make up THAT difference. Inspite of all those hurdles (and an early cocktail)…THE MUFFINS turned beautifully and ARE DELISH!!! So glad I found you and your recipes!

    ***Gonna try the bread version next!! and going shopping for fresh(er) ingredients***

    1. Hey Lizzy,
      I am delighted to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you giving it a try! Have a great weekend:)

  10. 5 stars
    These muffins had just the right blend of flavors. This is a perfect recipe as I really don’t like overly sweet foods. I love muffins and pastries where you can taste the other ingredients vs. sugar. Loved it!

    1. Hey Lynn,
      Happy Friday!! I appreciate you trying this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was a hit!⛄️ xT

  11. 5 stars
    Just made these and love them. I think the honey adds just the right sweetness. I love banana and chocolate together.

    1. Hey Tracy,
      Thank you so much for giving this dish a try, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! Have a great Thursday:)

    1. Hi there,
      Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xT