Banana Chocolate Coffee Muffins with Whole Wheat Flour

I have to admit, I’m not a huge muffin fan.  They’re usually not delicious enough to be dessert, but not healthy enough to justify being breakfast.  But as muffins go, these banana coffee chocolate muffins are the best of all worlds—packed with healthy ingredients but absolutely delish.

I’ve really slipped on my healthy breakfast train the last month or two. I had family in town, then was out of the country for a couple weeks, and have been buried under work and lack of sleep.

So I just haven’t had the time or energy to do much baking or cooking to prepare for each coming week. Thankfully, over 4th of July weekend I finally got back on track with these beauties.

I really haven’t done a lot of baking lately, partly because when I use my stove and oven it makes my kitchen feel like Death Valley during the summer. My A/C can’t come close to keeping up. But I decided it was worth it to give these guys a try. I mean, coffee and chocolate in a muffin together?? Sign me up!

As much as I love whole wheat flour, I was a little nervous about using it exclusively, since sometimes that can make things a little too dry and dense. I shouldn’t have worried, though—these were moist and light even as reheated leftovers at work the next day.

And the dark chocolate chips are these gooey little nuggets of awesome. For something that literally takes like 5 minutes to stir together, the return on this is totally worth it!

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir together the dry ingredients. I added about a teaspoon of instant espresso powder as well, since I really wanted the coffee taste to be present (it still was super subtle, though).

In a separate bowl, mash the one banana and then stir in the rest of the web ingredients (minus the chopped banana).

Then stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones until it forms a thick batter—don’t over-stir, a few lumps are totally okay.

Add the chopped banana and chocolate, and just barely stir in.

Fill  your muffin cups about two-thirds full of batter. You can use the little papers, but I have better luck just giving the muffin tin a tiny bit of spray oil and then pouring the batter directly in.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out with the tiniest bit of crumb, about 16-20 minutes.

Let your banana chocolate muffins cool, then store in an airtight container or big ziploc. For me, I have to open the ziploc from time to time to let moisture out, because the banana makes things funky. These will only be good for about 3-4 days and then the banana makes them a little weird, almost fermented.

You can zap them in the microwave for like 10 seconds before eating, and they are sublime with a nice strong espresso.

Other healthy breakfast carbs you’ll love:

• Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins
• Mom’s Super Healthy Breakfast Bars (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Cheryl’s Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
• Quinoa Nut Maple Granola
• Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Flaxseed Muffins
• Double-Chocolate Banana Muffins (can be gluten-free)

Whole Wheat Banana Coffee Chocolate Muffins

Note, this is halving the original recipe, which I’ve linked to below; made 12 muffins

• 1 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3/8 cup of buttermilk
• 3/8 cup of canola or olive oil (note, if you pour both the oil & buttermilk into a measuring cup, it should add up to 3/4 cup of liquid total)
• 1 ripe banana mashed, plus 1 ripe banana diced
• 1/8 cup of strong coffee, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoons of vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste & it was awesome)
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1/8 cup of sugar
• About 1/3 bag of dark chocolate chips (or chopped bittersweet chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease or line a 12-muffin tin.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and instant espresso (if you’re using it) in a large bowl. Whisk together, and make a well in the center.

Combine the oil, milk, mashed banana, coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, sugar, and egg in a separate bowl and whisk the wet ingredients together.

Pour over the dry ingredients and stir together until almost mixed, but with a few lumps.

Add the diced banana and chocolate, then just barely combine. Be careful not to over-mix.

Spoon or scoop the batter into the muffin tin, filling the cups about two-thirds full. Bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with the very tiniest bit of crumb, 16-20 minutes.

Original recipe from Vanilla Bean Blog

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