Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Soft & Fluffy Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins Recipe 

You guys know I’m always sneaking cottage cheese into recipes. I love the fact that it adds more protein (without protein powder) and specifically helps make muffins super fluffy! Whether we’re talking about my cottage cheese pancakes, cottage cheese egg bites, or cottage cheese lasagna, using this protein secret (or maybe not-so-secret) is one of my favorite swaps.

So, with a few ripe bananas on my counter, I drew inspiration from my 5-star cottage cheese muffins recipe and my grandma’s amazing banana bread recipe, and ended up making the BEST chocolate chip banana muffins ever! Tall and domed, they look like they came from a bakery, but are super easy to make at home and have 7 grams of protein. Truly, they’re my latest breakfast obsession, and I know they will be for you, too. Even my littles can’t get enough! 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Large Batch – This recipe makes 12-14 super big muffins.
• Better-for-You – Low in refined sugar, these banana chocolate chip muffins taste like a treat but have 7 grams of protein. 
• Versatile – You can easily make these muffins gluten-free to suit different dietary needs. Or, have fun experimenting with different mix-ins to make them your own. 
• Quick & Easy – From start to finish, these muffins are ready to eat in under an hour, and the steps are so simple that little ones can get involved. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon in the kitchen! 

RELATED: Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients

• Cottage Cheese – Whole milk cottage cheese works best for that fluffy texture and softer batter, but you can use low-fat cottage cheese in a pinch. Since we’re blending it up, either small curd or large curd is totally fine. 
• Maple Syrup – A natural sweetener, this enhances the flavor of the bananas without the need for lots of granulated sugar. Agave works well, too, if you have it on hand. 
• Vanilla
• Coconut Oil – Melted and cooled, this adds moisture and flavor to the batter. Avocado oil or unsalted butter can be substituted, if needed.
• Eggs – These add structure to the batter, helping the muffins hold their shape.
• Mashed Ripe Banana – Use 2 large or 3 smaller bananas (but make sure to measure the right amount, mashed). The riper they are, the sweeter your muffins will taste! 
• Flour – All-purpose flour forms the base of the batter, but you can substitute a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour if you need to keep your muffins gluten-free. Or feel free to do a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose!
• Baking Powder – Make sure it’s fresh for the best rise.
• Salt
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – Substitute milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips if that’s what you prefer.

How to Make This Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

This recipe comes together similarly to most muffins and only requires 10 minutes of prep time. All you need is a blender, a large bowl, a muffin pan, and a wire rack. I also use a cookie scoop, but you can get by with a spoon. Here’s how to make the best Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins: 

1. Combine the ingredients – Pulse all the wet ingredients in a blender until smooth. Then, whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl, pour the cottage cheese mixture on top, and whisk again just until the ingredients are combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. 
2. Portion – Scoop the muffin batter into a lined muffin tin, filling each cavity all the way to the top. This is how I achieve tall, domed, bakery-style muffins. I like to add a few chocolate chips to the top of each muffin, too. It’s not necessary, but it does make them extra pretty. Plus, you can never have too much chocolate, right?
3. Bake – Transfer the muffin pan to a preheated oven, and bake until the muffins are fluffy, lightly golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. 
4. Cool – Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes. Then, remove them from the pan, let them cool completely on the rack at room temperature, and enjoy! 

Tips

• Blend the cottage cheese until smooth. This step is crucial to not only masking the cottage cheese but also creating a cohesive batter. We don’t want any lumps of cottage cheese curds! 
• Be careful not to overmix. When combining the wet and dry ingredients, fold everything together gently to keep the muffins nice and fluffy, stirring just until the ingredients are incorporated. Overmixing can make the muffins tough and gummy, which we definitely don’t want!
• Measure the mashed banana carefully. I recommend mashing the bananas on a flat surface and then measuring out exactly 1 cup. Freeze any leftover banana, and use it to make smoothies, like my chocolate banana smoothie or spinach banana smoothie.
• Use a cookie scoop. I like to spoon the muffin batter into the pan using a cookie dough scoop. This helps portion the batter evenly and keeps everything nice and clean. 
• Adjust the baking time. Every oven is different, and the muffins will rise and deflate slightly once removed from the oven. So, I recommend baking around 35-36 minutes to prevent them from deflating. 

RELATED: Blueberry Banana Protein Muffins

Variations

• Mini Muffins – Scoop the batter into a mini muffin pan, and reduce the baking time as needed for fun, bite-sized banana chocolate chip muffins. They’re perfect for tiny hands! 
• Chopped Nuts – Replace or add to the chocolate chips with chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans. If adding to the chocolate chips, I recommend using no more than a 1/2 cup of nuts, or your muffins will be overloaded with mix-ins. 
• Swap the Chocolate Chips – Use peanut butter chips in place of chocolate chips for a completely different taste. 
• Spices – Include 1/2-1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or nutmeg in the batter for a bit of warmth. 
• Blueberries – Fold in up to 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. Toss them in flour before adding them to the batter to prevent them from sinking straight to the bottom. 

How to Store

These banana chocolate chip muffins are great to prep ahead! To keep them fresh, let them cool completely. Then, transfer them to an airtight container, and store them in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months! 

To serve, thaw frozen muffins in the fridge overnight. Then, enjoy them cold. Or, pop them in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds to warm them up. 

More Wholesome Muffin Recipes

• Lemon Blueberry Muffins
• Blueberry Quinoa Muffins
• Carrot Cake Muffins
• Easy Healthy Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
• Gluten-Free Healthy Rhubarb Muffins

Cottage Cheese Recipes To Try 

• Cottage Cheese Waffles
• Cottage Cheese Brownies
• Cottage Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
• Cottage Cheese Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Cranberry Orange Cottage Cheese Muffins
• Pistachio Cottage Cheese Ice Cream 

Looking for more? Find 35+ cottage cheese recipes!

5 from 8 votes

Print Recipe

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe is what my breakfast dreams are made of! Super tall and fluffy, with a sweet, banana bread flavor and lots of chocolatey goodness, these bakery-style muffins are lower in sugar and higher in protein. Plus, they’re easy to make and great to prep ahead of time for a fun, kid-friendly treat throughout the week. My kids love getting these in their lunchboxes, and you'd never even know they’re made with cottage cheese! 

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 -14 Muffins

Calories: 346 kcal

Author: Christine McMichael

Equipment

• Muffin Tin
• Blender

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup 4% cottage cheese
• ▢ 3/4 cup maple syrup
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons refined coconut oil (melted & slightly cooled)
• ▢ 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
• ▢ 1 cup mashed ripe banana (from approx. 2 large bananas or 3 small bananas)
• ▢ 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• ▢ 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-count muffin tin.
• Combine the cottage cheese, maple syrup, vanilla, coconut oil, eggs and mashed banana in a blender. Blend until smooth.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Pour the cottage cheese mixture over the dry ingredients and whisk until some flour remains but is mostly incorporated.
• Fold in the chocolate chips. Don’t overmix!
• Scoop the batter into the muffin liners, filling all the way to the top (they will likely be a bit domed and reach higher than the muffin liner).
• Bake for 32-35 minutes. The muffins will rise very high, and deflate slightly once taken out of the oven, so I’d recommend cooking them a bit longer than you think.
• When muffins are ready, set the pan onto a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Video

Notes

• Be careful not to overmix the batter; otherwise, the muffins can become tough/gummy. 
• In my oven, I’d recommend baking for 35-36 minutes to prevent the muffins from deflating. Keep an eye on the muffins, and adjust the baking time as needed. 
• Be sure to measure out the mashed banana. If you have leftover mashed banana, you can easily freeze it and put it in a smoothie later! The best way to accurately measure mashed banana is to mash it on a flat surface (not a bowl), then measure.
• Add a couple of chocolate chips to the top of each muffin if you prefer! 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Muffin | Calories: 346 kcal | Carbohydrates: 48 g | Protein: 7 g | Fat: 14 g | Saturated Fat: 8 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g | Trans Fat: 0.02 g | Cholesterol: 32 mg | Sodium: 198 mg | Potassium: 295 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 23 g | Vitamin A: 88 IU | Vitamin C: 2 mg | Calcium: 103 mg | Iron: 3 mg

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