Mini Chocolate Banana Brownie Muffins
on Jan 11, 2022, Updated Jan 26, 2024
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These mini chocolate banana brownie muffins are the perfect soft treat! If you have some overripe bananas sitting on your counter, you can turn them into these little bites in just 30 minutes. They are moist, full of flavor, and SO easy to make!
I’m always looking for ways to use up ripe bananas and decided to turn my recent ripe batch into a chocolatey treat. I’ve been making these chocolate chip oat muffins pretty often, but I wanted to test out a chocolatier flavor combo – because who doesn’t love chocolate? ;). These muffins are dairy-free, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free. The ripe bananas provide the main sweetness for these muffins and the final result is a tender, brownie-like soft bite. These muffins almost melt in your mouth and all of the flavors merge together so well. This is one of those treats that I intended on making for the boys but ended up eating most of the batch of myself 😉 If you’re a chocolate lover, you’ll definitely love this healthy treat!
If you have more than just 2 ripe bananas ready to use up, be sure to try out this peanut butter banana cake, these strawberry banana oatmeal muffins, or these spinach banana muffins!
Table of Contents
Watch Recipe Video
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need to make these mini chocolate banana brownie muffins:
- Almond Flour: Provides nutty flavor and moistness to the muffins. I always use the Kirkland brand blanched almond flour!
- Bananas: The main source of sweetness for these muffins. Make sure to use bananas covered in several brown spots. We want ALL the brown spots for the best sweetness!
- Eggs: Used as a binder to help hold the muffins together.
- Maple Syrup: Optional ingredient for a little added sweetness to the muffins.
- Baking Powder: Leavening agents to help the muffins rise.
- Chocolate Chips: An optional ingredient for added sweetness. I used mini chocolate chips for these mini muffins, but you may use regular chocolate chips.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Recipe Substitutions & Additions
- Eggs: The best replacement for the eggs in this recipe would be a liquid egg replacer like the brand Just Egg.
- Almond flour: If your little one is allergic to nuts, or you’d like to use an alternative to almond flour, try this similar recipe for chocolate chip oat muffins which uses oat flour instead!
- Chocolate chips: You may replace the chocolate chips with chopped nuts or omit them altogether!
- Maple syrup: The maple syrup adds a little extra sweetness to the muffins, but may be omitted. If you are omitting the maple syrup, be sure to use bananas that are overripe with several brown spots for maximum sweetness.
Step By Step Instructions
STEP 1: Mash the bananas in a bowl until they are smooth.
STEP 2: Add in the eggs and maple syrup to the bowl with the bananas and mix until combined (Images 1 & 2).
STEP 3: Add in the almond flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking powder and mix until combined (Images 3 & 4).
STEP 4: Fold in the chocolate chips until incorporated (Image 5).
STEP 5: Scoop the mixture evenly into a mini muffin pan and sprinkle the top with a few extra chocolate chips if you’d like (Image 6).
STEP 6: Bake the muffins at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool completely before removing them from the muffin pan.
Storage Instructions
Let the muffins completely cool and store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the fridge. To freeze, store in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag once cooled for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply microwave the muffins for 20-30 seconds, or until warmed through!
Tips For Success
- These muffins contain unsweetened cocoa powder which does contain a small amount of caffeine. The amount of caffeine in the amount of cocoa powder used is small and the amount in each individual muffin serving is even smaller, but keep this in mind and offer at your discretion.
- This recipe makes 30 mini muffins. You may make regular-sized muffins by adding a few more minutes to the total bake time.
- If you’d like a smoother batter, you may blend your bananas beforehand before combining them with the rest of the ingredients. I love using this nutribullet blender to blend the ingredients to make smooth batters.
- I like to use a silicone muffin pan to bake these muffins as they pop out easily without any sticking. If using a regular mini muffin pan, be sure to coat it with a cooking spray beforehand.
Recipe FAQs
The almond flour is pretty important in this recipe as it helps provide a soft, brownie-like texture. If your little one is allergic to nuts, or you don’t have almond flour on hand, you can try out this recipe for chocolate chip oat muffins and add in a little cocoa powder for a similar taste!
Due to the caffeine content, it is generally recommended to avoid cocoa powder until age 2. That said, small tastes after age 1 are safe to offer in moderation.
Yes! If making normal-sized muffins, add an additional 5-10 minutes to the total bake time. Check on the muffins after 5 minutes using the toothpick test for doneness.
Other Chocolate Recipes You’ll Love
Oatmeal Chocolate Pudding
Chocolate Chip Oat Muffins
Chocolate Banana Pancakes
Maple Syrup Chocolate Chip Cookies (Egg-Free)
If you tried these Mini Chocolate Banana Brownie Muffins please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below! I love hearing from you!
Mini Chocolate Banana Brownie Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 medium overripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup unsweetenend cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Mash the bananas in a bowl until smooth.
- Add in the eggs, and maple syrup to the bowl with the bananas and mix until combined.
- Add in the almond flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking powder and mix until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips until incorporated.
- Scoop the mixture evenly into a mini muffin pan and sprinkle the top with a few extra chocolate chips if you’d like.
- Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool completely before removing them from the muffin pan.
Notes
- These muffins contain unsweetened cocoa powder which does contain a small amount of caffeine. The amount of caffeine in the amount of cocoa powder used is small and the amount in each individual muffin serving is even smaller, but keep this in mind and offer at your discretion.
- This recipe makes 30 mini muffins. You may make regular-sized muffins by adding a few more minutes to the total bake time.
- If you’d like a smoother batter, you may blend your bananas beforehand before combining them with the rest of the ingredients. I love using this nutribullet blender to blend the ingredients to make smooth batters.
- I like to use a silicone muffin pan to bake these muffins as they pop out easily without any sticking. If using a regular mini muffin pan, be sure to coat with a cooking spray beforehand.
May I ask to share what cocoa powder you have used
Hi Krishna! I usually use the unsweetened cocoa powder from Trader Joe’s or the Hershey’s brand!
So moist and delicious!
I’m so glad you liked these, Beth!😊
My little girl’s 2 favourite things are chocolate and banana, so this was right up her street 😅
Oh I read a response of yours about the flour, I used regular flour so I think that is the reason they came out dry.
Hi Andreea! Yes, for this recipe only almond flour can be used to achieve the same results since almond flour contains natural oils from the nuts which helps add moisture.
I baked this without adding chocolate chips as I’m limitating as much as possible added sugar. And it was a hit, my 11month-old baby girl loved it! Thanks so much for sharing all these recipes. I’ve tried so many of them and there are now on rotation on my menu. Will make sure to leave more comments 🙂
I’m so glad to hear that your little one enjoyed these muffins! Thank you for sharing you feedback Judith!😊
Not only does my one year old love these. My husband does too! I omit the chocolate chips and they still taste great.
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed these muffins!😊
Hi, I was wondering if you had to use almond flour or if you could use oat flour or regular flour. What is the reasoning behind the almond?
Thanks!
Hi Kay! The almond flour is used to obtain a moist, soft, brownie-like texture in these muffins! It also adds a nice subtle nutty flavor to the muffins! I wanted them to be more like a melt-in-your-mouth brownie texture as opposed to a chocolate cake texture, but I’m sure a different flour could work as well (though I haven’t tested this out just yet myself). I’d love to know if you try them out!😊
if I wanted to add peanut butter to these, do you know what would be an adequate amount?
Hi Mary! I haven’t tested them out with peanut butter, so I can’t say for sure, but I’d suggest starting with a couple of tablespoons so that it doesn’t affect the texture of the batter too much. I hope they turn out well if you try them out!
Love these and so easy to make! I added peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips because, hello, banana, chocolate and peanut butter = heavenly trio! Thank you for the recipe, Lily!!
I love the idea of peanut butter chips that sounds amazing!! I’m so happy that you enjoyed these, thanks for sharing your great review, Sarah!😊
These are so so so good! Made them exactly as the recipe stated and thought they were perfect. Will definitely be trying the other muffin recipes as well! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed these muffins! Thanks for sharing your great feedback, Beverly😊
I just made these and they are tasty! I have a metal pan and for me it only made 24 muffins (which is plenty!).
I put a little less than 1/4 cup of cocoa powder since my kiddo hasn’t ever had it, I didn’t want it to be too bitter for her. I also put 1.5tsp of maple syrup (instead of 2TBPS), and it’s sweet enough 🙂
I will be stealing these if my kiddo doesn’t like them – but I am sure she will.
I’m so happy that you liked these muffins! And thank you so much for sharing those modifications, I’m sure others will find them helpful! Thanks for sharing your great review, Melody!😊