Filled with rich cocoa and peanut butter flavors, this Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffin recipe is nutritious and so delicious. And since they store so well in the fridge—and almost taste better as they sit—they are a great make-ahead toddler breakfast option.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins
The first time I made this version of a Peanut Butter Muffin, we were in the midst of nighttime potty training and I basically didn’t have a decent night of sleep for 3 months. It was rough on the kiddo, too, and we were often grumpy and dragging in the mornings. These muffins saved us more than once, as I found that making a special breakfast really helped to improve my mood.
With decadent chocolate flavor and balanced nutrition, they are so good warm out of the oven or served from the fridge later in the week. (They’re also great for Valentine’s Day breakfast or family brunch.)
I like to use rolled oats as the base for many of my muffins since they add nutrition and are an inexpensive gluten-free flour option for those families who need it. They work really well in this chocolate muffin recipe. I grind rolled oats in my blender to make a super easy flour. You can also buy oat flour at the store if you prefer.
This recipe has almond meal for additional fiber and moisture keeps the muffins from drying out. Mostly though, they just have the yummiest flavor, especially when served cold from the fridge.
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Ingredients You Need
To make this recipe, you’ll need the following pantry staples so you know what to have or pick up at the store.
- Peanut butter: I use unsweetened creamy peanut butter, which blends into the batter nicely. You can also use another nut or seed butter such as cashew or almond butter.
- Bananas: Very ripe bananas add moisture and sweetness to these muffins.
- Oats: Regular rolled oats work well here. They’re sometimes called “old-fashioned oats.”
- Almond meal: I don’t use this often, but it adds nice texture and flavor here. If you don’t have it, just use additional oats. The muffins may be done baking a little sooner than the recipe says.
- Cocoa powder: I use the unsweetened kind of cocoa powder here.
- Eggs: Eggs help the batter hold together and add fluffiness.
- Vanilla extract
- Honey: I use honey to sweeten these muffins, though you can use maple syrup instead of honey if you prefer. (Avoid honey for kids under age 1.)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to make these muffins so you know what to expect from the process. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full info.
- Mash the banana super smooth and add to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. (You can also blend the batter in a blender.) Grind up the dry ingredients in the blender.
- Add chocolate chips if desired.
- Divide the batter evenly among a greased muffin pan. (I prefer to use nonstick spray for the best results here).
- Bake until just firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Dairy-Free Chocolate Muffin Recipe
If you have a dairy allergy or sensitivity in your house, these muffins are made without dairy. So there’s no adjusting needed to make a delicious batch of chocolate muffins!
How to Store
Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Best Tips for Success
- Serve warm out of the oven or chilled from the fridge.
- Use very ripe bananas with brown spots for the most natural sweetness.
- Use store-bought oat flour or grind your own in a food processor or blender.
- Use peanut butter or another nut or seed butter such as almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
- Cut into smaller pieces as needed when serving.
- Eat plain or top with peanut butter, cream cheese, or some jam.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe, so please comment below to share!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 very ripe bananas (about 1 ½ cups sliced)
- ½ cup unsweetened peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup almond meal (or additional oats)
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 10 cups of a standard muffin tin with nonstick spray.
- Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and grind into a smooth batter.
- Fill 10 muffin cups about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then cool on a rack.
- Serve slightly warm or store in an airtight container and serve cold.
Notes
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Serve warm out of the oven or chilled from the fridge.
- Use very ripe bananas with brown spots for the most natural sweetness.
- Use honey or maple syrup.
- Use store-bought oat flour or grind your own in a food process or blender.
- Use peanut butter or another nut or seed butter such as almond or Sunbutter.
- Cut into smaller pieces as needed when serving.
- Eat plain or top with peanut butter, cream cheese, or some jam.
Nutrition
This post was first published October 2018.
The taste of these muffins are good. However, for some reasons, my muffins turned out to be very dense, not muffin like consistency.
Should the oats be blended to flour-like fine? I found that some oats were still in small pieces after blending all ingredients in the blender. Should the oats be grinded first? Maybe the instructions can state that if so?
I would like to try making these again to work on the consistency… The muffins tasted great with healthy ingredients. Thanks!
Can I still make these if I don’t have a food processor?
Yes, if you use oat flour and mash the banana with a fork, you can mix it in a bowl.
So good! I used cashew butter instead of peanut butter to help me keep up with different nut exposure. My toddler loved them.
My kids love these! I am always looking for ways to get protein in and this is a great option. My oldest doesn’t like peanut butter but he can’t even tell this recipe has it (not that I am for hiding ingredients but I am surprised he hasn’t noticed). I think the cocoa powder, maple syrup and banana hides the peanut butter taste well. I find these only need to bake 20 minutes in my oven. I get 16-20 muffins out of this recipe but maybe I don’t fill my muffin tin as full as most people.
These are so good! I did not use almond flour, but extra oats instead. I tried using my ninja blender and that was a fail. I ended up using my immersion blender and added about 1/4 cup of water (I used natural peanut butter and it tends to be thicker). I also used maple syrup instead of honey.
I baked them in my mini muffin pan, and baked for about 14 minutes. ***Check at 10 minutes if using mini muffin pan.
I made these for my kids but find myself eating them 🙂
My toddler loves this recipe! The browner the bananas the better for sure! Can use less cocoa powder if wanted. I like to make them mini and cook for about 12 min.
I grind the oats in my vitamix and once when out of almond flour I mashed some raw almonds a bit in my mortar and then ground them as much as they would go in the vitamix. I will say I don’t like cleaning the vitamix and so prefer to use my hand blender or even just mix it up by hand for the actual batter. I’ve even added some spinach once and shredded/pressed/drained zucchini once with success.
So far this is our family fav of the muffin recipes we’ve tried. Put in the fridge and eat all week. Will try freezing a batch next for upcoming surgery and see how they do thawing out. Thanks!
These were very good! I did sub almond meal for regular white flour bc I don’t have an actual food processor, my blender could only do so much with the oats so there was tiny chunks in. As per comments I added only 1/4c of coco powder and tossed in some flax seed. Also, as I’m writing this I just realized I forgot the vanilla 🤦♀️ I did use the maple syrup so my baby could try them. They didn’t come out tasting very much like peanut butter but it’s very subtle and may be related to the kind of PB I used. Overall very moist and delicious!
I thought they were just okay. A bit bland, and on the drier side (and we took them out of the oven at 19 minutes so much less than what the recipe said). They needed more banana flavour as I feel like the banana taste was mostly drowned out by the pb, and more banana might help with more moistness too. My toddlers did eat them the first day, but by the next day none of us really wanted them as they were even drier.
Can you use something else instead of almond meal?
You could use whole wheat flour, but bake for 18-20 minutes
These muffins are tasty! I did, however, take them out at 20 minutes and fear they would be too dry at 24. I also added just under 1/2 tsp. of salt since I’m serving them to children and adults old enough to handle it. It adds to the flavor.
Hi Amy! Is there an egg-free option for this recipe? Thanks!
Theses muffins were good and my 3 year old loved them too! I did make a couple substitutes: used whole wheat flour instead of almond meal, did half white sugar & half honey, and I added some salt. Would definitely make it again!
Hello,
I can’t wait to try this recipe but I am unsure of how to substitute for eggs Do you have any recommendations? Thanks
I’ve found 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 milk per egg to work pretty well in most baked goods!
Can I substitute almond flour for the oat flour and almond meal? Would that amount be similar????
It would be fine for the almond meal. I haven’t done it without any oats but you can certainly try it in the same amounts. It may just be moister.
Is it possible to add more honey or maple syrup in the recipe? I found it a little bitter but my husband loved it.
Sure, you could do 1/3-1/2 cup and/or reduce the cocoa powder slightly.
Loved them !!!
I made them without the cocoa powder but out of all the banana muffin recipes i tried making for my toddler, this is the best tasting one ?. Im my opinion anyways. Thank you!
What could I sub instead of the almond flout, as I’m allergic to nuts? I have flaxseed meal (bought for another recipe of yours!), not sure if that would work?
I think you could probably stir flour into the batter in place of the almond meal once the other ingredients are all blended together. I think it might be too much flaxseed meal (or probably half flour and half flax would be okay). They may be done a few minutes sooner since flour is drier than almond flour, so start checking for doneness closer to 20 minutes.
This sounds yummy! Quick question- can this be made without using a food processor?
You could stir the batter together if you mash the banana well with a fork and use purchased oat flour.
Hi I do not have almond meal. Can I substitute white whole wheat flour ?
I haven’t tried them that way but it should work I think!
Is 1/2 c cocoa powder really right? That seems like a lot!
That’s how I’ve made them but you could likely reduce it to 1/3 or 1/4 cup if you prefer.
Hi Amy,
If I wanted to make these vegan, what would I use as an egg substitute? I don’t have any experience with the best egg substitutes. I’ve read that some people save the liquid drained from garbanzo beans.
Thank you!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’ve had a lot of success using flax eggs as a sub! You’ll need flax meal and water— just google it for ratios.
You can also try a chia seed ‘egg’ do a quick search for the exact proportions. I’ve used before in some baked goods with great success but don’t have it in front of me.
Just made these for the first time yesterday, followed the recipe exactly, and they are SO good— equally as good warm as cold from the fridge this morning 😉 I love how all of your muffin recipes have ingredients I wouldn’t really know how to use (like the almond meal in this one, ground flaxseed in another) to really boost the nutritional value.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
Made these as mini muffins for my boys (18 mos & 3 yrs) for Valentine’s Day & they ask for more every single day! Even caught my gluten-free parents stealing a bunch too. So yummy.
Based on ideas from your Insta feed, I’ve been having my picky 3 year old help me more in the kitchen (measuring, cracking eggs, mixing), and it’s lead to him trying new foods & finding lots of pride in “cooking for Daddy & baby” 🙂 Thank you so much! Congrats on your new addition too!
Hooray and I love hearing about this progress–thank you for sharing! (And thank you re the baby!)
I made these and thought they were yummy, but my banana-hating 7-year-old wasn’t into them because she could taste the bananas. Is there anything I can sub for bananas in this?
Generally speaking (though I haven’t tried either in this recipe), pumpkin puree and applesauce (as long as it’s not too runny) work well in place of bananas!
Hi there, I’d like to try this recipe and just wondered if you had the ingredient measurements in grams please? I’m from the UK and not so savvy with cup measurements. Many thanks
Hi. I would love to try this recipe as I’m forever looking for healthy treats for my toddler. Just wondering if I could use mejdool dates instead of bananas. Has anyone has tried that? If yes, what proportion? TIA.
I haven’t tried this with dates and I’m not certain it would work given the volume of bananas in the recipe. Is there an allergy or is this just a preference? I can try to help if I can!
Excited to try these! Do you think I can use Cacao powder instead of Cocoa?
Yes absolutely, it will work the same! (That’s what I use more often and it has delicious flavor!)
How much oat flour do I use to make the equivalent of 1/2 cup rolled oats? It’d be great to have the gram measurements like another comment suggested since US/UK cups aren’t the same. Thanks in advance.
Just a little less than 1/2 cup. I’m working on a converter to help with metric.
We’ve loved these muffins for several years! I make them in a mini-muffin tin. Adjusted cooking time is 18-20 minutes, depending on your oven (I tested at 18 and kept them in for 2 more minutes). The only problem is they disappear into happy bellies too quickly!
Thanks so much for sharing the timing of the minis Anne, that’s such good info to have!
I forgot to add that the yield for mini-muffins is about 32. I fill the muffin cups 2/3 full.
Thanks Anne!
Made these this morning, followed the recipe and they are so good!
Hooray! I’m so glad to hear that!
I made these tonight with a couple of changes to make them Passover-friendly. They turned out great! Here’s what I did, in case anyone finds it useful. (p.s. I’ll make them Amy’s way the rest of the year – the recipe is great as is. But they also adapt super easily for the week of Passover.)
The changes:
– I omitted the oat flour. Instead, I upped the almond flour to 3/4 cup and added 2 tablespoons of potato starch – texture is great.
– I swapped almond butter for the peanut butter. (Folks who eat kitniyot can leave the PB as is.)
I love knowing how you adjusted them—thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Amy,
I made these today and used regular flour. Baked them for 25 minutes and they came out perfect. Baby and hubby are eating them now… I better hurry up or they will be gone 🙂
I’m so glad I found your website, so many great ideas!
Rachel Melroy
Hi Rachel!! I’m so glad that they worked well with regular flour and I appreciate you letting me know. Enjoy what’s left of the batch!
OK, I am so making these this weekend. (PS. Can I use regular flour instead of almond?)
I bet you could use regular or even whole wheat flour, though I haven’t done it. Check them for doneness starting a few minutes earlier though since all purpose or ww flour is drier than almond flour and may not need as much baking time.