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The best Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Muffins. Warm out of the oven with sweet cinnamon honey butter and a pinch of salt, these are everyone’s favorite muffins. One bowl, super quick to mix up, and made with wholesome ingredients like sweet bananas, zucchini, honey, and whole wheat flour. An incredibly delicious way to use up summer zucchini!
Happy Tuesday everyone! It’s been a minute since I shared something sweet and chocolatey on a Tuesday, but something has me in a baking mood. Between all the summertime peaches, berries, and zucchini, there are endless amounts of sweets to bake.
I have so many ideas that I’ve just been running with them and baking things up! Some are turning out, some are falling short. But these chocolate chip zucchini banana muffins really hit the mark.
When I made these I wasn’t sure I’d end up sharing them. But once I pulled them out of the oven and saw just how perfectly they baked up? Well I knew the recipe was a good one! Simple and not overly sweet – the perfect summertime treat.
And the cinnamon honey butter with a pinch of sea salt on top makes them even more special.
The details
All you need is ONE bowl, a handful of basic everyday ingredients, a few minutes to mix up the batter, and about 20 minutes for baking.
First step, the zucchini. When baking with zucchini it’s really important to remove any of the excess moisture (so the water). You want to do this so your baked goods don’t end up super dense and watered down. Simply shred the zucchini, then ring the zucchini out to squeeze out all the water. It’s really easy. The drier you can get the zucchini, the lighter your muffins will be.
Now that your zucchini is squeezed of excess water, the rest is quick and easy.
Before adding anything else, mash the bananas in a bowl. Use super ripe bananas. They’ll help keep the bread sweet and very moisturized. Next, add melted coconut oil, a couple of eggs, vanilla, and honey for some additional sweetness. Then stir in the zucchini and add in whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon, plus a touch of salt.
Stir in a good amount of sweet chocolate chips. You can use dark chocolate or even vegan if you’d like, but semi-sweet seemed just right to me.
The cinni honey butter
While the muffins bake, I mix up the cinnamon honey butter. I’d say this is optional, but really, it’s not. You just have to smear this all over your warm muffins. It’s the most indulgent addition, and it’s absolutely what your muffins need.
Salted butter mixed with sweet honey and cinnamon is truly magical on a warm muffin.
The muffins aren’t too sweet, but we love them this way. Super soft and so incredibly tender. You can enjoy them warm with honey butter or save them for a snack.
Every last bite leaves you wanting another. Which is totally fine, the zucchini and bananas give you a good dose of healthy nutrients!
Looking for sweet zucchini recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Zucchini Bread
Sneaky Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Coconut Bread
Zucchini Peach Streusel Muffins
Lastly, if you make my Chocolate Chip Zucchini 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!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Honey Butter
Servings: 18 muffins
Calories Per Serving: 246 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini, grated (about 2 cups grated before squeezing out water)
- 2-3 over-ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup mashed)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/3 cup honey (use 1/2 cup for sweeter muffin)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks
Cinnamon Honey Butter
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 18 muffin tins with paper liners.2. Lay a clean towel on the counter and spread the zucchini out in an even layer, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover with another towel, and let sit 5 minutes, then squeeze out any excess water. You should have 1 cup of zucchini. 3. In a bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, coconut oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Mix in the squeezed-out zucchini. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. 4. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.5. Meanwhile, make the cinnamon butter. In a small bowl, combine the butter, honey, and cinnamon. 6. Serve the muffins warm or at room temperature smeared with cinnamon honey butter. Enjoy!
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 2-3 days at room temperature.
Freezing: Cool the muffins, wrap well with plastic wrap, then store in a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw for a few hours on the counter before serving.
I’ve made them 3x in the last month!! Made just as the recipe says. My family loves them and I can’t get enough either. Thank you!
Thanks sooo much for trying out the recipe! I hope it was a hit! xT
Made these today, loved them! Thanks for the recipe! <3
Made a few adjustments: I used 1/2 whole grain spelt flour and 1/2 oat flour. Used 1/2 of the honey amount. Ended up adding a few splashes of milk since it was a bit dry because of adjustments. Sprinkled with coconut sugar and cinnamon on top.
Thanks for the feedback! xT
These muffins are so moist and delicious! Do not skip the honey butter- you don’t need it but it is so good.
Very easy recipe- I am sure it will become my go to for ripe bananas now.
Hi Jane! Thank you so much for trying out this muffin recipe! I’m so glad you loved it! xT
Super yummy! Thank you for the recipe. I didn’t have coconut oil so I used avocado oil and it didn’t seem to impact the taste in any way. The only problem I did have was when I took the cupcake liners off the baked muffin. The sides of the muffin stuck to the liner, so the bottoms of my muffins have chunks missing 😂
Any recommendations on how to avoid this or what I may have done wrong?
Thanks 🙂
Hey Jenny! Sometimes that happens to me too with the liners, so sometimes I’ll just make the muffins in the tin without the liners!
YUMMY! Great flavor and not too sweet. All the flavors come through amazing and the recipe is super easy!
I added 1 tsp of baking powder as I was trying to get a bigger top on the muffin which seemed to work a bit, that combined with baking the first 5 minutes at 450 then drop temp to 350 for the remaining 12-15 min (mine took 5 min at 450 then 10 min at 350) – if you use this method check them at 10 min to make sure they don’t dry out.
I got 13 large size (not jumbo) muffins using ice cream scoop to divide them into the muffin pan.
Hi Trish,
Happy Monday!! I am so glad to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it and your review:)
These came out amazing!! I added 3 cups of oat flour instead of 4 cause I ran out. Still came out delicious and perfect. Thanks!
Love to hear this Jamie!! Thanks so much for trying these muffins and sharing what worked well for you:) xT
These are incredible!!!! I made them with dark chocolate chips. Thank you for this wonderful recipe, I can’t wait to surprise friends and family with them. The honey cinnamon butter is divine, too! I’ve made so many of your recipes, and really love this one.
Hey Ella,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was such a hit! Thanks so much for giving it a try!😎☀️ xT
Very delicious! I used half zucchini and half golden zucchini as that is what we had on hand – couldn’t tell a difference! Next time I’ll make sure to put some chocolate chips directly on top of each muffin just before baking as it seemed a few sunk to the bottom.
Hi Jordyn,
Amazing!! I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was a winner! xx
Easy to follow, one bowl, even the husband who “hates” zucchini loved them. We liked them best at room temp.
Hi Kely,
Happy Monday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for trying it and your comment!🌼🌸 xx
These muffins are soooo good. I’ve never used coconut oil before and I didn’t read to melt it before adding so I just tried breaking up the solid bits and mixing the best I could. It stilled turned out super delicious and moist even with the solid coconut oil. I used unbleached all-purpose flour. The cinnamon honey butter just really makes these extra decadent. My fiancé absolutely loved these. We will definitely be returning to this recipe!
We freeze grated zucchini when we have too much from the garden to use. Do you think it would be a similar process as above? Thawing and then layering between towels to get the extra moisture out?
Thanks for another easy, delicious recipe!
Hi Autumn,
Awesome!! So glad to hear that these muffins turned out well for you, thanks for making them:) Sure, I think the freezer zucchini would be just fine for you to use! Let me know if you have any other questions:) xT
I can’t wait to try this!! Looks fabulous!
P.S. In the first section of this post you tell is to ring out the moisture from the grated zucchini. The actual word, which sounds the same, is ‘wring’.
‘Ring’ is what a bell does, or is a circle around something. To ‘wring’ something means to squeeze and twist it, as in wringing the water out of a wet bathing suit, or that warning from Moe of the 3 Stooges when he’s mad at one of his fellow Stooges, “I’ll wring your neck!
Thanks so much Carol! I hope you love this recipe! xx
Agree! Ring vs wring
can you use a different oil?
Hi Patrice,
Yes, any other neutral oil will work well for you:) Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
WW flour made my muffins a little dry, but i know they are healthier than all purpose. however the honey/butter topping made up for the dryness :).
Hi Corene,
Love to hear this!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your feedback! Have a great day! xT
Outstanding! Cinnamon butter on top is the perfect finishing touch!
Hi Barbara,
Fantastic!! I love to hear that this dish turned out well for you and appreciate you making it:) xT
So delicious!! I used half the amount of chocolate chips and still so good!
Hi Stephanie,
Happy Monday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for making it! xT