The Best Marbled Banana Muffins

Chocolate and banana — is there any better combo? Today I’m bringing you a brand new muffin recipe that combines the two in a perfectly sweet, magical swirl.

These marbled banana muffins involve banana muffin batter and chocolate banana muffin batter carefully swirled together to create a fudgy texture with plenty of melted chocolate chips in every bite. They seriously taste like a chocolate banana cupcake (that you can enjoy for breakfast) and, shocking to no one, my kiddos are obsessed.

Bake a batch to enjoy for an afternoon snack or sweet treat, and don’t forget to freeze a few for later!

Ingredients in these easy marbled banana muffins

These muffins require super simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Bananas: be sure to use SUPER ripe bananas with lots of brown spots to give the muffins sweetness.
• Sugar: I like to use brown sugar in this recipe, but you can also use coconut sugar to keep the muffins refined sugar free.
• Eggs: you’ll need 2 eggs to help the muffins bake up properly.
• Milk: a little unsweetened vanilla almond milk give the muffins moisture.
• Flour: we’re using regular all purpose flour in this recipe, but you can also use white whole wheat flour for a boost of whole grains.
• Cocoa powder: you’ll mix cocoa powder (or cacao powder) into half of the batter for that delicious chocolate swirl.
• Baking staples: don’t forget the baking soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.
• Coconut oil: a little melted coconut oil gives the muffins an extra boost of moisture.
• Chocolate chips: we’re mixing chocolate chips into the chocolate layer of the muffins for melty sweetness in every bite. Don’t forget to add a few to the tops of each muffin, too!

Can I make them vegan or gluten-free?

• To make them vegan: I haven’t tested it, but feel free to try replacing the eggs with 2 flax eggs. Let me know in the comments if you give it a try!
• To make them gluten-free: use a 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour in the batter.

Keep these muffins nut free

Simply use your favorite nut free milk, and swap the coconut oil for melted, cooled butter or vegan butter!

Get the perfect “marble”

If you’ve never “marbled” two batters together, don’t worry! It’s easier to do than you think:

1. Make the muffin batter, divide it evenly into two bowls, and add cocoa powder to one of the batters.
2. Next, alternate adding the 1 tablespoon of each of the different batters to each of your muffin liners.
3. Use a knife to swirl the batter one to two times in a figure-8 pattern. Don’t overdo it or your batter will look all mixed together.
4. Top each muffin with a few chocolate chips before baking!

Don’t forget these muffin baking tips

• Use room temperature ingredients. Be sure to fully cool your coconut oil and bring your eggs to room temp before mixing the batter so that they don’t coagulate. To bring your eggs to room temp, simply place them in a bowl of warm water for 3-5 minutes before you use them.
• Do not overmix the batter. Just like you have to be careful when marbling your batters together, be equally as careful that you don’t overmix either of the batters on their own. If you overmix batter you’ll end up with muffins that are more dense and gummy instead of fluffy and soft.
• Use fresh baking soda. If your baking soda is older than 3 months, I suggest grabbing a new one for best baking results.

Turn this recipe into marbled banana bread

Looking for a bread instead? Here’s how to do it:

1. Make the batter as directed, then spoon half of each batter into a greased 8×4 inch loaf pan. Repeat with the other half of each batter.
2. Use the same figure-8 technique with a knife to gently swirl the batters together — be careful not to over-mix or over-swirl it.
3. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until tester comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.

Freeze these marbled banana muffins

Yes, these marbled banana muffins are freezer-friendly! Simply wrap muffins individually in freezer-safe bags or store them in a large freezer bag. When you’re ready to enjoy them, reheat them for 30-45 seconds in the microwave or simply thaw them at room temperature.

More muffin recipes you’ll love

Get all of my muffin recipes here!

I hope you love these marbled banana muffins! If you make them, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them.

The
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook

125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

ServesServes 12 servings

Incredible marbled banana muffins baked with a swirl of fudgy chocolate batter and plenty of melty chocolate chips. These fun, easy marbled chocolate banana muffins have a cozy hint of cinnamon flavor and make such a fun breakfast, snack, or treat!

Ingredients

• Wet ingredients
• 3 extra-ripe spotty large bananas, mashed
• ½ cup (107g) packed brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• ⅓ cup (80g) unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Dry ingredients
• 1 ½ cups (180g) all purpose flour (or sub white whole wheat flour)
• ¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅓ cup (75g) coconut oil, melted and cooled (or sub melted butter or vegan butter)
• ½ cup (90g) chocolate chips
• For topping
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
• Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray.

• In a large bowl, mix together banana, brown sugar (or coconut sugar), eggs, almond milk and vanilla extract.

• In a separate large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Next, stir in melted coconut oil; mixing until just combined.

• Add half of the batter (about 2 cups of the batter) to a separate medium bowl. Stir cocoa powder and ½ cup chocolate chips into one of the batters, mixing with a wooden spoon until just combined.

• First spoon 1 tablespoon of the regular banana batter into each muffin liner and then spoon 1 tablespoon chocolate batter on top. Repeat until all of your muffin batter is gone. The muffin batter will likely come to the top of the muffin liners, that’s totally okay!

• Swirl the batters together back and forth with a knife, just about 1-2 times (I like to do 1 to 2 figure-8 patterns). Don’t go crazy or the batter won’t look nice and swirled.

• Gently shake your muffin pan back and forth just a few times to even out the batter. Evenly top the muffins with 2 to 3 tablespoons chocolate chips.

• Bake for 18-25 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

See the full post for tips and tricks for making these muffins!

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffinCalories: 236calCarbohydrates: 35.1gProtein: 3.8gFat: 10.1gSaturated Fat: 7.2gFiber: 2.5gSugar: 17.4g