I've said this before, but get bananas in baking and they’re like that person in the room that has to be the center of attention; their flavor completely takes over! They are truly the narcissists of the fruit world.
And although I'm generally not crazy about the overwhelming taste of bananas in baking, this Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Pineapple recipe is different; it’s not your typical banana muffin recipe! However, it’s not only the chocolate chips that add deliciousness and balance the banana flavor, there is something completely magical that happens when you add pineapple to the mix!
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If you’re like me and are super picky about the ripeness of your bananas, you also likely have a freezer full of them! And although I love my Tropical Banana Bread recipe, I don't always want to make banana bread.
🥘 Ingredients
These Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins are a delicious tropical blend of pineapple and banana (with semi sweet chocolate chips), baked into tender, moist and delicious muffins. They use up your overripe bananas and freeze well, so they are perfect for the lunch bag, a quick breakfast, snack or dessert!
For this recipe you'll need:
- all-purpose flour
- whole wheat flour
- white granulated sugar
- baking soda
- salt
- cinnamon
- eggs
- ripe bananas
- canned crushed pineapple * you can use fresh (especially if you have overripe)
- vegetable oil
- unsweetened applesauce
- semi-sweet chocolate chips * use dairy-free chocolate chips to make this recipe dairy-free
I got this recipe for healthy banana chocolate chip muffins from a friend a number of years ago. My kids were raving about how great so and so's mother's muffins were, so of course I had to ask her for the recipe. And although I lightened them a little and changed a few things, the kids love them and I still can't keep them around long enough to get many for myself. They are just too good not to share with the rest of the world!
🍌Freezing Bananas
Just a little tip: When you’re freezing bananas, you'll want to peel them BEFORE you freeze them. It took me years, lots of minor frostbite from peeling frozen bananas and having frozen bananas as painful as frozen hockey pucks fall out of the freezer onto my toes, before I discovered this very logical way of freezing bananas!
🍽 Equipment
You will need a muffin tin (affiliate link) for this recipe.
💭Muffin Baking Tip
If you don't know this already and happen to run into a situation where you don’t have enough batter to fill your muffin tin (please excuse my old, ugly muffin tin!), make sure you still fill the empty ones to ⅔ full with water. This helps them to bake evenly. Another tip is to turn the muffin tin around halfway through the baking process to ensure even baking and browning.
I love adding whole wheat flour to my muffins because it adds a healthier element. Whole wheat flour not only adds more nutrition, it adds a nutty and tasty flavor. However, whole wheat flour can sometimes make the finished product seem drier than using a more refined all-purpose flour. Fortunately, the pineapple in this recipe adds that extra moisture. But for future consideration, it is recommended that you let the batter sit for about ten minutes before baking when using whole wheat flour in baking recipes. The rationale is that because whole wheat flour contains both the bran and germ of wheat, which is coarser in texture, resting the batter before baking gives the liquid a chance to hydrate the bran and the germ and soften it. You can read more about baking with whole wheat flour HERE.
🌡️Storing
These muffins can be stored in a sealed container, at room temperature, for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 3 month. To reheat from frozen: heat in microwave for about 20 - 30 seconds or until no longer frozen. Or simply allow muffins to defrost at room temperature.
👪 Serving size
This recipe makes 30 muffins. You can half, double or triple the recipe by simply clicking on the blue serving size in the recipe card, selecting the number of servings you'd like and the ingredient amounts will adjust accordingly.
So if you're looking for a great way to use up overripe bananas, these muffins are perfect! They also freeze well, make a great snack, quick breakfast, dessert and are excellent for popping into a lunch bag. Not only will your kids love them, you will too. Just make sure you put aside a few for yourself!
And if you LOVE healthy banana recipes, then check out these banana bread flavored healthy breakfast cookies!
Here are some other overripe banana recipes!
This Coconut Lime Nice Cream uses 6 bananas!
Award Winning Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
⭐ REVIEWS
Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below!
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📋 Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Pineapple Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- 3 large, ripe bananas, mashed
- 14 oz - can crushed (undrained) pineapple 398 ml
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In another separate large bowl, beat eggs with whisk and continue to whisk in bananas, pineapple with liquid, applesauce and oil until blended.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until moistened. Then stir in chocolate chips.
- Spoon into prepared muffin tins, filling to ⅔ full.
- Bake in 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in tins for 5 minutes, then remove muffins to cooling rack and cool for an additional 5 minutes.
- Freezing: freeze in air tight container or in freezer bag for up to 2 months.
Dahn@savorthebest
These sound delicious! I love adding whole wheat flour to baked goods too, I really like the slight nutty flavor it gives. Welcome to MVP!
Terri Gilson
Thank you!
Elaine
Such a great idea to add pineapple to a banana muffin! I like how you've replaced part of the oil with applesauce, too. Delish!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Elaine! I hope you enjoy them!
Colleen
These muffins look perfect. I love the idea of adding pineapple. And why didn't I think of peeling the bananas before freezing them? Thanks for that tip, I have had my share of rock hard bananas falling on my toes, too.
Terri Gilson
I know, hey? It took me years to discover that, Colleen! Enjoy your pain-free toes!
Bernice Hill
This is the perfect recipe and those muffins look delicious. I happen to have cut up pineapple in the fridge and a whole freezer full of over ripe bananas!
Terri Gilson
Awesome, Bernice! You're off to the races!
Sabrina
These are my new favourite muffin! So low cal but so satisfying and moist from the pineapple. Great recipe, thanks!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Sabrina! I'm glad you like them!
Trish
Haha... I too spent way too much time trying to peel frozen bananas before I figured out to peel them before I put them into the freezer 🙂
Muffins sound great!
Terri Gilson
I know, right?!