Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins: These delicious muffins are packed with flavor and super simple to whip up! Plus, they’re made with Greek Yogurt instead of oil! 

After making Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding, bananas have been on my mind. More specifically, chocolate banana things have been on my mind. (Because when is chocolate not on my mind?)

This past weekend my family went up to the mountains to stay in a family cabin. It’s been our vacation spot for the last 24 years, and it holds a special place in all of our hearts. It represents our childhood, as we’ve spent every summer up there. Even though my siblings and I are all grown (or somewhat–we’re all still kids at heart), we still have an amazing time up there. And, it’s the first time my nephew made it up to Hume!

Because our cabin is in a secluded area, we always bring up a ton of food (more than we actually need, but if my one year stint in Girl Scouts taught me anything, it’s to always be prepared. And that battery operated curling irons do not work well when camping. This is probably why I didn’t last long as a scout). As such, there was a plethora of bananas left over from the trip, because despite all of our best intentions to eat healthy, the junk always takes precedence. It’s vacation, right?

So this recipe is due in part for my love of all things banana and chocolate and in part because the bananas were on their last limb–literally. They were breaking open while hanging on the banana tree. I was saving them from themselves.

For a while I’ve been looking for dark chocolate cocoa powder, and I finally found it at Target! I tested it out in these Dark Chocolate Brownie and Cream Trifles, fell in love with the rich chocolate flavor, and may never go back to regular cocoa again. I’m a huge dark chocolate fan, and plus, I feel less guilty when I eat it. Win/Win.

These muffins call for dark chocolate cocoa, but you can use regular cocoa if you have that on hand. The chocolate flavor might be less intense, but it’ll taste great nonetheless!

Plus, as an added bonus, these muffins do not have any oil or butter in them. I repeat, no oil or butter. Instead, I substituted Greek Yogurt, which not only lightens up the muffins, it also helps keep the muffins moist. Win/Win part 2.

The only thing to keep in mind with these muffins is that because there is no oil or butter, if you use muffin liners, the muffins will most likely stick to the paper. Instead, spray your muffin tin with cooking spray and bake your muffins. They will come out easily, fully in tact, and you won’t be caught licking the muffin wrapper to get all of the crumbs that stuck to the paper.

Also, the sugar on top of these muffins give them that perfect muffin top. You can leave it off if you’d prefer (as you can see in some of the pictures, I left the sugar off a few of the muffins), but adding it on really does make for a perfect muffin top.

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Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

18 mins

Total Time

33 mins

 

These Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins are lightened up, as they are made with bananas and Greek yogurt instead of oil. 

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate Banana Muffins

Servings: 12 muffins

Author: Michelle

Ingredients

• 3-4 medium bananas
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp Greek Yogurt (plain or vanilla)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder, unsweetened may be substituted
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 tsp sugar for each muffin, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside*.
2. In a bowl, mash bananas with brown sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Allow the mixture to sit for about five minutes, giving it time for the flavors to meld with each other. Then, add in Greek yogurt and egg and mix together.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together four, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. Add in chocolate chips and mix.
5. Once combined, divide batter evenly between 12-muffin cups.
6. If sprinkling sugar on top of the muffins, sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar over each muffin. This allows for a nice crunchy yet soft muffin top.
7. Bake at 425 for five minutes (this gives the muffin a dome shape). Then, bake at 350 for an additional 12-13 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*Because there is no oil in these muffins, if you use muffin liners, the muffins will most likely stick to the liners.

Check out some other banana recipes:

{Skinny} Strawberry Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Maple Glazed Banana Bread