Simple Coconut Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips are moist and full of flavor. Simple to whip up and super moist. You can freeze them for easy grab and go breakfasts on busy mornings.
Coconut Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips
Somehow the last week in our house became an impromptu muffin mania. I opened my freezer tonight and was like, woah, we are set on muffins for a long time. Am I complaining? Not one bit.
These Coconut Banana Muffins are more than likely my favorite of the recent recipes because they involve coconut. The hubby isn't a huge fan of coconut so this means less sharing when it comes to this recipe! Hooray!
Ok, so what makes these banana muffins so special?
Prep time is so minimal and easy. I ALWAYS have ripe bananas in the house, either in the freezer or in the fruit basket. The same goes for the rest of the ingredients, I always have it all in the pantry or fridge. So prepping these muffins is as simple as grabbing everything and mixing the ingredients. You can handle that, right?
They freeze well. I like to have baked goods in the freezer. We can't go through a dozen muffins always quick enough, so I like to freeze half of these coconut banana muffins and then I don't have to worry about any going to waste. I pop one in the microwave from the freezer and I have a warm muffin ready in no time!
They are delicious, sweet and refreshing. There is something magical about adding coconut to banana bread recipes. You instantly get a refreshing, almost tropical flavor. And right now, I think that's what we all could use!
Everything you need is probably already in the pantry if you are anything like me! So now let's dive into the details of the recipe and what you really need to make these fluffy, moist muffins all yours!
What you need to make these Coconut Banana Muffins:
- I typically have 2% or 5% milkfat Greek Yogurt. Those are the two options I tend to find at our grocery. I don't really like the nonfat.
- I use canola oil in my muffins. Melted coconut oil works as well, I have used that as well.
Hoping you already have everything you need to make these muffins because that is always the very best. If not, I hope you are just a quick trip away!
How to make this recipe:
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas well. There will still be lumps, that's ok. (steps 1 and 2)
- Add egg and vanilla and mix well to fully incorporate the egg. You can use a fork or whisk for this part. I find either of these work the best to break up and incorporate the egg. (steps 3 and 4)
- Add sugar, oil and Greek Yogurt and stir to combine. The oil in this part takes a bit more time to get fully incorporated. I imagine its something science related but let's not get into that. Again, a whisk helps the process along to get it all together! (steps 5 and 6)
- Mix together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. If you want to make this a one bowl recipe, you can gently pour the flour, salt and baking soda on top of the banana mixture and then toss them together before mixing them in. I prefer to do this in a separate bowl to make sure the baking soda evenly distributed. (steps 7 and 8)
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. I generally do this in three parts versus dumping it all in. Just makes mixing easier and much less messy. (steps 9 and 10)
- Fold in the coconut and chocolate chips. If you take a bite or two of the batter I will not tell on you. (I know I will hear it from my mom when she reads this. Who knows, maybe she won't read it in detail.) (steps 11 and 12)
- Scoop batter into lined muffin tin. For best results, spritz each liner with a bit of spray oil as well. Not all muffin liners are actually nonstick (blew my mind when I found this out) so better safe than sorry. Top with extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake and then enjoy once they are cooled! (see below)
Pro-Tips and Notes:
- You can use frozen, ripe bananas, just make sure they are thawed completely before using them to make these coconut banana muffins. Previously frozen bananas actually mash very easily so that's a bonus!
- Always, always, always make sure your baking soda is fresh. Trust me, you don't want to use expired leavening agents if you can help it. This is usually one of the main reasons for unsuccessful bakes so check the expiration before you bake!
- These are fairly sweet muffins. You can lessen the sugar slightly to about ⅓ cup if desired to keep them from being too sweet for your liking.
- Feel free to freeze these banana muffins. I have never frozen them more than about one month and a half. We eat them too quickly!
Try these other baked good recipes:
- White Chocolate Almond Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Chip Banana Bread
- Chocolate Spinach Muffins
- Flourless Peanut Butter Banana Mini Muffins
- Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
DID YOU MAKE ONE OF MY RECIPES? LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW! I ALSO LOVE TO SEE YOUR LEMONS + ZEST RECIPES ON SOCIAL MEDIA–TAG ME @LEMONSANDZEST ON INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK!
Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1 c flour you can use oats and blend them into a flour. use about 1 ½ c oats
- ½ c sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ c oil
- ⅓ c Greek yogurt, plain
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 c shredded coconut unsweetened
- 1 c dark chocolate chips plus more for topping if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- In a medium bowl, mash bananas well.
- Add egg, and vanilla, and stir to combine. Add oil, yogurt and sugar and stir to incorporate.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda.
- Slowly transfer the dry ingredients into the bowl with wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- Fold in coconut and chocolate chips.
- Pour batter evenly into muffin tin that has been well greased or lined with muffin cups (I also spray my muffin liners with a spritz of oil. This really helps keep the muffins from sticking too much to the liners). Add extra chocolate chips if desired on top.
- Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes up clean out of the center of the muffins.
- Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Notes
- You can use frozen, ripe bananas, just make sure they are thawed completely before using them to make these coconut banana muffins. Previously frozen bananas actually mash very easily so that's a bonus!
- Always, always, always make sure your baking soda is fresh. Trust me, you don't want to use expired leavening agents if you can help it. This is usually one of the main reasons for unsuccessful bakes so check the expiration before you bake!
- These are fairly sweet muffins. You can lessen the sugar slightly to about ⅓ cup if desired to keep them from being too sweet for your liking.
- Feel free to freeze these banana muffins. I have never frozen them more than about one month and a half. We eat them too quickly!
Jamie says
Can you use coconut flour?
Lorie says
Hi Jamie! I’ve never tried it. Coconut flour is verrry absorbent. You only need 1/4 to 1/3 cup for every cup of regular flour. If you want to try it, I’d start with 1/4 c, Bake one muffin and see how it goes and then add more if needed. Hope that helps!
nicole says
Made these for the hubby the other night, and he loved them! I usually make him banana chocolate chip muffins which he enjoys, and since he loves anything coconut, wellll... I figured I would give your recipe a try. And it was a thumbs up! ( Gotta love when that happens )
Lorie says
So good to hear!!! I licked the spoon of the batter one time without thinking and decided I need to make this egg free just to be able to eat the batter straight from the bowl! Thanks for sharing!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
YUMMMM! I love any reason to use up ripe bananas. These sound so perfect--that coconut/banana combo is like summer in muffin form 🙂
Lorie says
So true Kelsie! And no better way to use up the bananas!