Healthy Chocolate Banana Breakfast Muffins

These chocolate banana breakfast muffins are a healthy and delicious way to start your morning. They have the moist texture and rich flavor of the very best chocolate cake but are much lower in sugar than typical breakfast muffins and packed with good-for-you ingredients.

Here's what these chocolate banana muffins are all about: 

• They are quick and easy, can be made in advance, and freeze well
• They are lower in sugar than typical breakfast muffins thanks to the addition of naturally sweet applesauce and a TON of bananas 
• They include fiber-rich ingredients like whole wheat, wheat bran, and fresh fruit
• They can easily be made vegan, eggless, or gluten-free (see "Additions and Substitutions" below)
• They are soft, moist, fudgy, and packed with chocolate banana flavor that's not covered up by excess sugar
• They are hearty enough to keep you feeling full for hours
• They are an absolutely delicious way to use up overripe bananas
• They are a surefire way to please chocolate loving kids and adults in equal measure

I have always had a preference for sweet breakfast food. Give me fresh fruit and yogurt, peanut butter and honey on toast, chocolate banana smoothies, or muffins and pastries for breakfast, and save the eggs for dinner thankyouverymuch.

Even better if breakfast can include some chocolate. Or ice cream. I've been eating strawberry frozen yogurt for breakfast for years and am currently obsessed with healthy Ninja Creami recipes packed with protein that justify my craving for ice cream in the morning.

My whole family feels this way. So, it's obvious why these easy and good-for-you double chocolate banana muffins have been one of my go-to breakfast recipes since our kids were young.

They thought they were getting away with eating chocolate cake for breakfast but I knew they were getting a hearty, low-sugar, whole-grain breakfast. Wins all around. 🙌

If you are of a similar mind, this recipe is for you.

Also, FYI - you can swirl peanut butter into the top of these to make chocolate banana peanut butter muffins that are SO GOOD.

Just in case you need a few more reasons to eat chocolate for breakfast, try these Vegan Banana Chocolate Muffins with Tahini Glaze, or a batch of Vanilla Glazed Chocolate Almond Scones, or these Double Chocolate Muffins which I almost always make mini-size because they're just more fun that way. Or, if you're on a gluten-free diet, try these decadent Gluten Free Double Chocolate Ricotta Muffins.

Also, there's no need to relegate "healthy" and "chocolate" to breakfast. I'm highly in favor of a chocolate all-day, everyday approach to life. For example, these super fudgy protein brownies are gluten-free and dairy free and, as the name suggests, packed with protein and chocolate.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare this Recipe

These fudgy little banana muffins are made with simple wholesome ingredients but taste like pure chocolate heaven. Typical muffin recipes rely heavily on sugar for flavor and moisture. But in this recipe, I swapped out some of the sugar for applesauce, yogurt, and 2 full cups of mashed bananas.

Here’s what you need to whip up some chocolate banana muffins lickety-split:

• All-purpose flour. These contain more whole wheat flour than all-purpose flour, but that little bit of all-purpose flour keeps them from being too dense and heavy.
• Whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour absorbs a lot of liquid so it can make muffins dry - but in this recipe that’s not a problem because of the applesauce, greek yogurt, and loads of mashed banana.
• Wheat bran. Wheat bran adds fiber, flavor, and a delicious texture to these fudgy muffins. 
• Cinnamon. A touch of ground cinnamon complements the chocolate banana flavor in these muffins in the most subtle and delicious way. 
• Baking powder and baking soda. Baking powder helps these muffins rise and baking soda works with the acid in the yogurt and the chocolate to produce a light and tender texture. 
• Salt. If you've been here before, you know I like more salt in baked goods than what you'll see in most recipes. Salt boosts the flavor of every single ingredient in a dish, and sweet foods are no exception. In these muffins, salt brings out the flavor of whole grains, brown sugar, chocolate, and bananas. It also balances out the sweetness of the muffins and rounds out the bitter corners of the chocolate. Having said that, if you are sensitive to salt, use your best judgment and reduce the amount in this recipe as you see fit.
• Brown sugar. Brown sugar adds more flavor and moisture than white sugar, which helps us get away with using less in these muffins. There’s simply no need to hide the natural goodness of these muffins under too much sugar.
• Butter. While most muffin recipes require at least a half cup of butter or oil, this recipe requires just 2 tablespoons. How can we get away with using so much less butter? Because of applesauce!
• Unsweetened applesauce. Applesauce does double duty in this recipe, replacing some of the sugar and most of the butter in these tasty muffins.
• Eggs. Eggs contribute protein, structure, richness, and flavor to these muffins. BUT, if you want to make vegan or eggless chocolate banana muffins, scroll down to the Additions and Substitutions section.
• Vanilla extract. Be sure to use real vanilla extract, not the imitation kind which can give muffins a bitter aftertaste.
• Bananas! 2 cups of mashed banana keeps these muffins naturally sweet, incredibly moist, and bursting with banana flavor.
• Plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt. Yogurt keeps these muffins moist for days, contributes flavor, and works with baking soda to create a light and fluffy texture. 
• Melted chocolate. I like to use bittersweet chocolate that’s at least 70% cacao but if you want slightly sweeter muffins you can use semi-sweet chocolate (60% cacao) instead.  

Make These Muffins in 4 Easy Steps

1. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to mix 'em up.

2. Add the brown sugar, melted butter, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla to a separate bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes, until well combined.

You can also mix everything up by hand with a wire whisk if you prefer.

3. Add the mashed bananas, yogurt, and melted chocolate and beat just until everything is combined.

4. Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl and stir just until the batter is smooth. Don't over-mix!

Distribute the batter amongst a paper-lined muffin pan and bake.

For Double Chocolate Banana Muffins Whip Up This Simple Chocolate Glaze

In all honesty, these chocolate banana muffins are absolutely delicious all by themselves, without the glaze. If you're a chocolate lover like me and feel that a little bit more chocolate is always a good idea, you'll probably want to make the glaze.

This super simple chocolate glaze takes less than 5 minutes to prepare and adds double chocolate flavor to these muffins.

Simply add some cocoa powder, powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, a few tablespoons of milk and some vanilla extract to a bowl and stir with a whisk until smooth. Done and done.

When the muffins are cool, spoon the glaze over the top of each muffin. Using tulip liners to make these muffins is especially great here because they will help hold in the glaze.

Additions and Substitutions

• For egg-free chocolate banana muffins: Swap the eggs with “flax eggs”. To make one flax egg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flax meal with 2 ½ tablespoons of water. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes to allow it to gel then add it to the batter. Because this recipe calls for three eggs, use 3 tablespoons of ground flax meal and 7 ½ tablespoons of water.
• For vegan chocolate banana muffins: Replace the egg with flax eggs (instructions in the previous bullet point) and use plain or vanilla vegan greek yogurt that’s unsweetened. It’s important to use “greek style” vegan yogurt because regular vegan yogurt contains too much water. I like the Kite Hill brand. You can also omit the yogurt and add an additional ½ cup of mashed banana. Using an extra banana instead of the yogurt results in muffins that are delicious, but won’t rise quite as high while baking.
• To make gluten-free chocolate banana muffins: Replace the all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour gluten-free measure-to-measure flour substitute. Replace the wheat bran with gluten-free oat bran or ground flaxseed meal.
• To make chocolate chip chocolate banana muffins: stir 1 cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter.
• Play around with the flavor by adding a teaspoon of almond extract or coconut extract, swapping out the butter for coconut oil, or dissolving a couple of teaspoons of instant espresso powder into the melted chocolate.
• Make chocolate banana peanut butter muffins! This is my favorite way to make these muffins. Melt ⅓ cup of creamy peanut butter and drizzle it onto the tops of the muffins before baking. Use a knife to gently swirl the peanut butter into the chocolate muffin batter, then bake as usual.

How to Store These Muffins

I usually make a batch of chocolate banana muffins over the weekend. We eat some for breakfast the day they are baked, pop a couple in the refrigerator for later in the week, and put the rest in the freezer for later in the month.

Quick aside: I almost always have a few muffins and balls of chocolate chip pecan cookie dough in the freezer and I can't tell you how many times I have thanked my past self for the effort.

• Stored in an air-tight container, these muffins will keep well at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Chocolate banana muffins can also be frozen, unglazed, for up to 3 months. I like to wrap each muffin individually then put them all into a zip-top bag or another airtight container. Wrapping them individually protects them from freezer burn and also makes it easy to grab as many or as few as you like from the freezer when you want them. Allow frozen muffins to thaw at room temperature then top them with glaze if you like and devour.

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