Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Coconut Crumb Topping

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are topped with a sweet coconut crumb topping. Coconut oil is the secret ingredient for moist flavorful muffins.

This is a super simple, one-bowl recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins, with just the right amount of banana and chocolate.

Plus, it has coconut oil for an extra punch of flavor in the muffin and the special coconut crumb topping.

You can choose whether to make them bakery style in parchment paper liners or homestyle with simple paper or aluminum liners. Whichever you choose, they are super moist and delicious for breakfast, brunches, or as an anytime treat.

Ingredient Notes

Here's what you need to make these muffins:

• Light Brown Sugar. Light brown sugar brings a lovely light caramel and flavor to these banana muffins.
• Coconut Oil. Oil is required for these muffins and the flavor of coconut oil greatly complements and enhances the banana flavor. It is well worth it to invest in a good quality organic coconut oil. It is shelf stable and keeps well for many months at room temperature.
• Egg. Eggs add protein that improves the crumb. Always use large eggs unless a recipe stipulates a different size.
• Over-Ripe Bananas. The star of this bread is the banana. For the very best banana flavor the bananas must be over ripe. Banana peels that are mostly spotted with black are the best to use. Those bananas will give the most intense banana flavor to the bread. As you peel the banana, the fruit will be very soft, translucent, and oozing.
• Milk. Milk add moisture and also protein. I also prefer to use whole milk with over 2% milk-fat products because the dairy fat adds more flavor and texture.
• Vanilla Extract. Vanilla extract is an excellent backdrop to the banana flavor of these muffins. If you don't have any vanilla extract, you can omit it from this recipe, but the flavor will be missing a flavorful extra dimension.
• Baking Powder. Baking powder is one of the two leavenings used in this recipe. It gives rise to the bread during the bake. Choose an aluminum-free type of baking powder for the best taste.
• Baking Soda. Baking soda is another leavening and begins its work before the bake and continues to work as the bread is baking. Letting the bread batter rest in the pan, gives baking soda a chance to work its extra magic before the bread is baked.
• Salt. Salt is the magic all-purpose seasoning that makes everything taste better! Even sweet bakes and breads benefit from the addition of salt.
• All-Purpose Flour. Exactly as its name implies, all-purpose flour is a good choice for most bakes. There is no need to weigh the flour if you use the "fluff, scoop, and level" technique to measure your flour. Begin by scooping flour in its canister multiple times to aerate and fluff it. Then scoop up flour in the measuring cup to overfill it. Lastly, level the flour in the measuring cup by drawing the flat edge of a knife or icing spatula across the top to level the volume.
• Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Small Chocolate Chips will be distributed more evenly throughout the batter. I'm partial to Nestle's. But any high-quality semi-sweet tiny morsel will be a good choice.

Please see the recipe card for the exact quantities.

How to Make Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Preheat & Prepare. Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C). Line a medium-sized muffin pan with 9 cupcake/muffin liners. Use liners made of parchment paper or aluminum foil for the easiest release of the muffin from the liner.If liners are not available, grease the bottoms of each muffin cup and let the muffins cool completely in the pan before removing them.

Make Coconut Crumb Topping. In a small bowl mix together the light brown sugar, granulated white sugar, flour, and shredded coconut with a fork.

Add the coconut oil and stir until the mixture is combined. Set aside for later.

Mix Wet Ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl beat together the light brown sugar, coconut oil, egg, mashed bananas, milk, and vanilla. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and continue to mix well.

Add Flour. Add the flour all at once into the wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula gently fold the flour into the wet ingredients. Mix only until the batter is barely mixed. Don't worry if streaks and clumps of the flour are still be visible. After folding in the chocolate chips the batter will be completely mixed.

Fold in Chocolate Chips. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill Baking Cups. Evenly divide the batter between the 9 baking cups, filling each cup ¾ full. Top the center of each muffin with the reserved coconut crumb topping.

Bake. Bake the muffins 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean and the tops are slightly golden brown.Remove the pan from the oven and let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

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