Creamy banana and oat muffins with whole wheat and flax! Spiced with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, folded in dark chocolate chips.

When bananas start to go bad they usually have two options.  In a smoothie or in baking. Since I prefer plantains in my smoothies I generally reserve the bananas for my baked goods.

Bananas add a subtle flavor that doesn’t dominate so it’s easy to pair it with a wide range of ingredients. Bananas add in subtle flavor but a lot of moisture in baking. Since they are so sweet when they are brown they reduce the amount of sugar added to a dish.

Today I decided to get ahead of the bananas and make some simple muffins. I got some super dark chocolate bars that unfortunately I left of the dry to melt but luckily they formed back together but it was time for them to be used up so I decided to add them together. I wanted to make this grab-and-go item a little healthier so I opted for whole wheat flour and a sprinkle of flax.

These healthy fibrous muffins are the perfect start to any day. Check out my tips and tricks below for the best chocolate banana oat muffins. Try this recipe out and let me know what you think.

TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE BEST DARK CHOCOLATE BANANA OAT MUFFINS

brown bananas: the best bananas to bake with are brown or blackish. they are bruised in appearance and soft to the touch. they aren’t going to be something you buy at the store so leave them on the counter a couple of days and they start to soften. you want brown or black bananas because they are softer and sweeter and replace some sugar.

don’t over mix: bananas are dense so you run the risk of having a heavier batter. swap out the electric mixer for a wooden spoon and fold in the ingredients followed by a couple of full turns and it’s all done.

separate the ingredients: to keep this batter light and fluffy the less we mess with it the better so to keep it pancake batter simply separate the ingredients wet from and dry then add the dry into wet. no beating eggs or creaming any butter here.

bake under: i like to undershoot my banana muffins. the toothpick test can be a little off when it comes to bananas and chocolate chips because they are gooey when they are warm so after 16 minutes you may be tempted to bake them longer since the stick may not come out clean. if they are firm and golden they are probably done.

let cool: similar to the under baking. the muffins will continue to set up once they are removed from the oven and begin to cool down.

healthier swaps: for this recipe, i added some healthy additions just to bump up the fiber and make these less guilty. so i used whole wheat flour but all-purpose flour can absolutely be swapped for substitutions.

SIMILAR INGREDIENTS TO:

1. DARK CHOCOLATE AND CHERRY MUFFINS
2. FRENCH TOAST MUFFIN CUPS
3. BLUEBERRY AND ALMOND OATMEAL MUFFINS

ENJOY THIS RECIPE WITH:

1. HOMEMADE CHEX GRANOLA PARFAIT
2. SAUSAGE, SUNDRIED TOMATO, AND SPINACH ROLLED EGG KOLACHES
3. SMALL BATCH STRAWBERRY JAM