Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
These healthy-ish banana muffins are made with whole wheat flour, olive oil, and maple syrup, and packed with dark chocolate chunks.
My boys are obsessed with muffins lately. I think my 5 year old would be happy with a muffin for every meal, every single day if I let him. These banana crunch muffins are what I bake on a regular basis to use up overripe bananas, but last week I decided to change it up with these whole wheat banana chocolate chunk muffins from Sarah Kieffer’s Vanilla Bean Baking Book.
Made with whole wheat flour, only a little bit of refined sugar, and olive oil instead of butter, I can feel better about all of us gobbling them up. And gobble them up we did! They are light, tender and slightly sweet. Plus who can argue with large dark chocolate chunks throughout?
baking tip:How to bake a perfect muffin
- Don’t overmix the batter. Overmixing can produce tough and deflated muffins. Stop mixing just when streaks of flour are no longer visible, some lumps are okay.
- Fill muffin cups a generous 3/4 way full. Filling any higher will cause them to spill out of the cup and produce a flat-topped muffin, but filling them too low doesn’t give the muffin enough batter to rise to nice domed height.
- Don’t overbake. Muffins are done when the center springs back when gently pressed.
- Remove muffins from the pan as soon as they are just cool enough to touch. Do not let them cool completely in the pan or they will be overbaked and soggy on the bottom. I usually let them cool in the pan only 1-2 minutes.
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Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chunks
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (283 grams)
- 1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (55 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup olive oil (175 ml)
- 1 cup buttermilk (250 ml)
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (156 grams)
- 2 medium bananas , mashed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chunks (170 grams)
- Sparkling or coarse sugar , optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a regular muffin pan with paper liners or grease with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, buttermilk, maple syrup, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix just until combined and until no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix. Stir in chocolate chunks.
- Scoop into prepared muffin pan, filling approximately 3/4 way full. Sprinkle with sparkling/coarse sugar, if desired.
- Bake until edges just begin to brown and center springs back when gently pressed, about 20 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan until cool enough to handle, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- These muffins freeze very well. Wrap individually in plastic and keep in the freezer for at a month or more. Let thaw on the counter for an hour or so before unwrapping.
Looks so good. I love banana bread, but these look super easy for on the go. And I love Sarah’s cookbook, but didn’t see this recipe so glad you shared so I did!
These muffins look good. Can I sub the whole wheat flour for another flour? I don’t usually bake with that flour.
These muffins look good. Can I sub the whole wheat flour for another flour? I don’t usually bake with that flour, but do have white and almond flour on hand.
White all-purpose flour could be subbed no problem. Not sure about almond since that’s a little different. Maybe a mix of almond and all-purpose?
Hi, I am assuming the egg is supposed to be mixed together with the wet ingredients?