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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
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
- 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
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.
For all gluten free people, I replaced the flour with bob’s red mill one-to-one gluten free baking flour and they came out PERFECTLY! My new go to muffin recipe for sure 🙂
Aw that is so amazing to hear! Thank you so much for trying this Megan! xTieghan
LOVE this recipe. I added pecans to the top of the muffins when baking, and add cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom to the honey butter. These are fabulous! I used silicone baking cups, and the baking time was about 28 minutes.
Amazing! Thank you so much Jaid! xTieghan
What size muffin tin should I use? As in a smaller one I would also use for cupcakes or the ones sold (here in Ireland anyways) as jumbo muffin tins that make the same size as you would get in a cafe
Hi Eva! I use a smaller one (one you would use for cupcakes). Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I was afraid while making these muffins that theywould be taste too “healthy” you know like not sweet, not soft, not an actual muffin, but I am happy to say I was very wrong! These were GOOD! Sweet enough, tasty enough, satisfying enough, everyone loved it! Another keeper!
That is so great! Thank you for trying these muffins! I am so glad they turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Next time I’ll double the spices. I didn’t get much chai flavor.
Of course! I hope you love these more next time, Linda! xTieghan
Alright, either I’m a magician or this recipe is fool proof.. totally forgot I had no eggs.. thankfully it was the last ingredient I was planning on adding in so decided to push through.. tossed in about a cup of applesauce to wet mix and 1/2 cup of flax seed meal to dry and these puppies came out beautifully! Rose into, tall, fluffy, moist wonderfulness! Thanks!
Hi Kailey! I am so glad this recipe still turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying it!! xTieghan
Super excited to make these! Can you substitute the coconut oil for butter or the honey for sugar?
Hi Aiden! Yes, both subs will work. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
These were easy to make and so very delicious. A huge hit with the family this morning!
I am so glad to hear that! Thank you for trying these Stephanie! xTieghan
Yum. Just made these. Subbed 1 c white whole wheat flour and 1/2 c all purpose. Wonderful straight out of the oven.
Thank you so much Vanessa! xTieghan
I used gf flour blend, and they are so delicious! Also combined half dark chocolate chunks with semisweet chips, and of course chocolate is great!
Its the best! I am so glad you enjoyed these muffins, Rebecca! Thank you for trying them! xTieghan
I followed all the directions except I changed up the flour and used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup almond flour, and it still turned out great!
Thank you Allie! xTieghan
I made these tonight and they’re so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and it was so simple and they turned out great. I also made the hazelnut brownies from HBH Super Simple tonight and OMG! You’re a genius!
Awh you are too kind! I am so glad you loved these and the brownies! Thank you so much Krystal! xTieghan
Just made these, they are delicious on their own- but with the honey butter? Amazing!!
I’ve made so many of your recipes and every one has been a keeper. Keep up the great work!
I am so glad you loved this!! Thank you Laurie! xTieghan
This recipe was absolutely delicious!! Would highly recommend!
Thank you so much Emily! I am so glad you loved this! xTieghan
Hi there! I cannot wait to make this recipe. I’m wondering if you bake this as bread instead of muffins, if the oven temperature or cooking time need to be adjusted? Thanks so much in advance!
Hi Jessie! You should leave the oven temp at 350 and bake the bread for 45-50 minutes. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan