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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Ingredients
- 4 medium overly ripe bananas, mashed , (about 1 1/4 cup mashed)
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground all-spice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chunks
Salted Honey Butter
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
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
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Looking forward to trying these! Do you have any recommendation for a substitute for cardamom? Thank you!
Hi Paige! You can just omit the cardamon, the muffins will still be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Fabulous recipe for a January bake.
Also good with choc hazelnut spread and butter ? xx
I am so glad you loved these muffins! Thank you Kelly! xTieghan
The texture and flavor of these were awesome! As a previous poster said, I found that I couldn’t really taste the chai flavour, so I think I’d increase the spices next time.
Thank you so much Heidi! I am so glad this turned out well for you! xTieghan
Hi! I’d like to bake these in the morning but I’m out of coconut oil–Can you recommend what to substitute (I have butter, olive oil, canola oil, and grapeseed oil)? Thanks!
Hi Rosa! I recommend using melted butter. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
My mouth has been watering for days! I am on Weight watchers and really want to come up with a way to make these without it taking up a third of my points for the day. Are there any substitutions you could recommend to decrease the calories? Thoroughly enjoy all of your recipes. NYE we tried your spicy herb chimmichurri butter! To die for!
Hey Sarah! I would recommend omitting the honey and coconut oil. The muffins still bake up nice, but are little less sweet. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Hi there! Do you have a substitute for the coconut oil? My husband is allergic to coconut. Would canola or vegetable oil work too? Thank you! They look so delicious 🙂
Hi Amanda! I would use melted butter or canola oil. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
These came out perfectly!
Yes! So glad to hear that Emily! Thank you! xTieghan
Made over the weekend and took to work- they were a HIT to say the least. Used Bob’s Mill paleo flour instead of wheat flour. My first time baking with that flour so I was a little nervous. The coconut oil seemed to make them more oily than other muffin recipes and I ended up sticking them back in the over after the first 20 min because I couldn’t tell if they were done. But everyone loved them, so I’ll be making these again.
Thank you so much Emmaline! I am so glad these were a hit!! xTieghan
Hi! I’d love to make these vegan. Any recommendations for substituting the eggs?
HI! I have not test this, but I would recommend trying either a flax or chia egg. Again, have not test the recipe this way so hard to say how it will turn out, but I think it could work. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Hi cant wait try this but can you substitute the coconut oil?
Hi Laura! You can use melted butter. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Just made these tonight and they were a hit with my kids!
Thank you Jennifer! xTieghan
These turned out fantastic! I used Nestle’s new Espresso-flavored chocolate chips and they worked AMAZING with these chai-spiced muffins! Will be making again for sure!
Thank you Lauren! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
SO delicious! I am GF and modified these by using 1 part Betty Crocker Rice Flour Blend, 1 part oat flour, and 1 part ground flax seed as flour replacement (flax and oat great for muffins). The chocolate and spices are incredible. Seriously improves a regular old banana muffin.
I am really glad this turned out so well for you Mado! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
Could almond flour be used as a substitute for the flour?
HI! I have never made this with almond flour so I can’t really say how it will turn out. If you need to make GF, I recommend Cup4Cup flour blend. Please let me know if you have any other questions and how it turns out. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
These were super delicious and easy! I wasn’t able to taste the spices very much so next time I might double them.
I am really glad you enjoyed this! I hope it turns out even better for you next time! xTieghan