Banana muffins are the best! Easy to throw together, quick to bake and oh so delicious! The key ingredient… Bananas are such an awesome fruit to bake with. The banana flavour is distinct and the aroma they add can only be described as intoxicatingly tropical and fruity plus they are very easy to peel! So easy in fact that monkeys can do it with their feet! You probably shouldn’t try that though.
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What’s pretty neat is that they also give your baked goods a moist crumb. I love it when that dessert fork just slides through…like an extremely skilled monkey swinging from tree to tree, slicing through the jungle with no effort. But these banana muffins are seriously easy to make…it’s Monkey Approved!
Ok, ok so I didn’t actually get the opinion of any actual monkeys, but that’s okay.
Now, enough monkeying around….let’s get to it.
What are the best Bananas to use for Baked Goods?
The best bananas for baking are very very ripe. The way to extract maximum banana flavour for your breads, muffins and cakes is to use bananas that have ripened to a point where they look overripe and you might question if they’re useable.
Here’s how to tell if your bananas are ripe:
The skin should be fairly speckled and blackish, the inside fruit should have more of a brown sugar hue and the smell should be very fragrant and sweet. When the skin is removed the interior texture will be quite soft, almost soggy, and will be very easy to mash with a fork.
How to ripen bananas instantly
If your bananas are not quite at this stage and you really want to bake and not wait a few more days ( I totally understand, I am a bit impatient myself) here’s an easy baking hack.
Roast the Bananas in their skin for 10-15 mins. at 350°F then remove and allow to cool before peeling and mashing. Yep! It’s that easy to ripen your bananas in a flash.
Before 
After
I utilized this hack for my Humming Bird Cake and it worked perfectly. Now that we’ve got our banana bases covered they rest is unbelievably easy.
My recipe is so simple that you’ll have these delicious chocolate chip banana muffins in no time.
How simple? Well, it’s just a matter of combining your wet ingredients and your dry ingredients and then baking. Extremely easy to make! No stand mixers, no creaming eggs and butter. Just combine and stir.
I really like it when baking is fast and uncomplicated, yielding an end product that has a sophisticated taste. This recipe will fool anyone with it’s flavour finery. The banana base is fruity and moist, the chocolate chip addition elevates the taste and the walnuts add texture and subtle crunch. Now these muffins are perfect as is, but when you top it with the frosting…it’s magic!
Why do Monkeys like bananas so much? I dunno, maybe it’s because they find them very apeeling.
Or it could be that the bananas play hard to get… Why? well every time a banana sees a monkey coming…he splits.
But don’t think for a second that bananas are introverts just because they carry around a lot on their insides. Oh no, bananas never get lonely because they hand out in bunches.
I’ll simply say that you don’t need to be a monkey to love this one. If you love gorgeous fruity flavour, moist crumb and chocolate chips… Try this recipe out for yourself…it’s as easy as peeling a banana!
Now… time to Que Harry Belafonte’s Banana song and lets get baking.
Chocolate Chip Banana Walnut Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting
Course: Dessert, Brunch, BreakfastCuisine: American, CaribbeanDifficulty: Easy12
Muffins5
minutes18
minutesIngredients
- Wet Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas (mashed)
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1/3 cup plain yoghurt (full fat)
2 eggs (whisked)
1 tsp. pure Vanilla Extract
- Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. All Spice
1/2 Nutmeg (grated)
- Add Ins
1 cup Chocolate chips (Dark)
1 cup Walnuts (roughly chopped)
- Frosting
8 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Butter
pinch Salt
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Powdered Sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Melt butter and allow to cool
- Combine all the wet ingredients in a bowl (including melted butter)
- Add all the dry ingredients to another bowl
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients in 2 parts taking care to combine well by lightly mixing or folding in
- Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips
- Place muffin/cupcake liners in your baking tray
- Add batter and bake for approximately 18 mins. or until done*
- Allow muffins to cool completely before adding cream cheese frosting.
- Dollop frosting or pipe on top*
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Whisk the butter in a bowl to soften
- Add the cream cheese then whisk to combine well
- Add the vanilla and salt
- Carefully add the powdered sugar making sure to whisk out all lumps
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container if making in advance and allow to thaw slightly before piping
Recipe Video
Notes
- How to check if your muffins are done: Insert a wooden skewer into the middle of the muffin then remove. The skewer should be fairly clean when removed, or have dry crumbs. If the skewer has wet batter, bake for a few mins. more checking every 2 mins.
- Frosting: If your kitchen is fairly warm, refrigerate your frosting for 15 to 20 mins before applying. I would highly recommend storing the muffins in a covered container in the fridge after piping/dolloping frosting because this fluffy frosting will not hold well in warm conditions (it will be far too soft and start sliding off the edges).
- Optional Garnish: Top with a banana chip.
