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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.
I recently stumbled across you on Instagram and I have loved everything I’ve tried so far!
Thank you so much Katie!!
Hi Tieghan! I wanted to make these for a friend who is about to have a baby! Do you have any ideas/tips on freezing and reheating these muffins?
Hi Rachel,
I would just follow the recipe as is, freeze, and she can warm in the microwave or reheat on low in the oven. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These look amazing! They’re baking in my oven as I type this. 🙂 How long can you save the honey butter and is it best stored in the fridge or on the counter in a container? Thank you for all of your amazing recipes!!
Hey Noelle,
I would keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I make these whenever I have a ton of bananas that are going bad – they use a lot more bananas than banana bread! And they are sooo good. I also recently discovered that they taste amazing with apple butter spread on top. When making these, I generally do “heaping spoonfuls” of whatever the spice instruction is, and that’s the perfect amount of flavor for me.
Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
Hey there,
Wonderful! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
Second time making these simple and delicious muffins, big hit with the family! Subbed with flax eggs (egg allergy) and they came out great! Thanks!
Hey Heather,
Awesome! It’s so great to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
I didn’t have chocolate chunks or honey on hand so used organic pure maple syrup and coconut flakes as subs and it was amazing! Such a great recipe!
Hey Andrea,
Wonderful!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed. Have a great Saturday! xTieghan
Made these today , and they are the BEST muffins I have made in a while! Easy too ????????
Hey Donna,
Wonderful! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Just jumped to the top of my “favourite banana muffin recipes”!!! We did not have cardamom or allspice so we subbed nutmeg and cloves. Definitely getting the full collection of chai spices for the pantry though. I think the coconut oil is nicely neutral which makes the spices shine. Sooo good.
Hi there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! xxTieghan
I just baked a batch of these on this rainy morning and they’re absolutely divine! Thanks for coming through with your amazing recipes as always!
Hey Rose,
Happy Friday! I’m so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Is it possible to make this in a loaf pan rather than a cupcake form? I have everything to make the recipe, only missing a cupcake form.
Hey Briana,
Sure, that will work just fine! You will just need to increase your baking time, I would start checking for doneness at 45 minutes. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Substitute to coconut oil?
Hey there,
You could use another neutral oil or butter in place of the coconut oil. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
These were so easy to make! I forgot to add vanilla and they were still delicious (especially warmed up)!
Hey Hannah,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! ?xTieghan
These turned out SO perfect. Perfect texture and the ratio is bang on for the ingredients. Thank you so much for sharing! Your recipes never disappoint xo!
Hey Kayla,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
I had three over ripe bananas to use up. I mashed and measured out 1.25 cups and had .5 cup left over. For the chocolate chunks, I decided to use up a couple XL Heath Bars I’d purchased at Christmas (chopped 6oz to equal 1 cup). The muffins took 27 minutes in my oven. I tried one warm and they’re very good! I agree with other commenters that the chocolate overwhelms the chai and banana flavors. The Heath Bar added a nice crunch to the muffin but not much toffee flavor. All in all, a good recipe that I would make again. When I really want the banana and chai to shine, I plan to up the spices and omit the chocolate chunks and maybe just add a dark chocolate drizzle.
Hey Heather,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Loved these! Excellent! Definitely a keeper recipe. I think I’ll add pecans or walnuts next time.
Hey Kelly,
I am so glad that the recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week:) xTieghan