Effortless One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Before we get too far into the whimsy of this post, let me just tell you that these Effortless One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins are THE BOMB. I have yet to meet anyone who disagrees…or can have just one!

Today I’ll show you how to whip up these babies in no time at all but first, can we talk about summer? Uhm, where did it go? As the days literally seem to be flying by, it’s hard to believe summer has just about come to an end for yet another year.

During my day-to-day stuffs, I can still feel it in the warmth of the sun and see it in the green of the trees. I can still hit the beach on most days and the water is still seasonably warm…but bit by bit the temperatures are dropping along with the leaves.

As school starts up for another year, the premature entrance of pumpkin spice everything reminds me every day that fall is not far away.

Am I happy about it?

Hmmm, that’s a tough one.

On one hand, I love fall. I love Halloween and family get togethers and reasons to cook up a delicious feast and celebrate.

On the other hand…fall means winter is coming and I’m already freezing.

I need toe warmers, STAT…

With all this summer-ending and fall-starting hullabaloo, mastering the yearly back-to-school ritual is not easy after 3 months of lazy days! That alarm goes off EARLY and I find the adjustment from eating at home whenever I please to making sure I have a fresh, cohesive, nutritious, and kid-friendly lunches packed each morning a bit of a struggle! You?

That’s why I love making muffins of all kinds that I can not only pack in their lunchbox for school, but also have as a quick grab-and-go snack on the way out the door…

…or when Max and June get home from school and begin their daily ritual of eating me out of house and home.

So, with all that said, I’m uber excited to share with you one of our favorite muffin recipes which is a nod to the classic banana bread!

You really just need one bowl and a few really simple ingredients to pull this off. So preheat your oven to 350 degrees and read on…

When choosing bananas, you have several options. You can use that old, old brown omg-should-we-throw-that-away banana, or you can use a regular yellow banana, or you can use frozen bananas (when mine turn brown, I peel them and toss them into an airtight container that I keep in the freezer for easy access).

I’ve tried them all and they all work really well. The only thing I would stay away from is the under-ripe, kinda-hard-kinda-green guys.

Whichever you choose, take 4 of them and put them in a large mixing bowl. Using a fork, mash them up really well. It’s okay if you have chunks, they offer a nice texture. But, if you want smooth ‘nanas, just keep mashing!

Next, mix in your wet ingredients – almond milk, oil, vanilla, maple syrup, and ground flax seeds. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes so the flax seeds can get sticky and create an awesome binder for your muffins.

If you aren’t familiar with flax seeds, check out my post on Flax Seed Benefits and How To Grind Them. It’s super easy to do and flax seeds are a great addition to any diet, vegan or not!

After that, add in your dry ingredients which includes your flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Give it all one last good mix.

At this step add in 1/2 – 3/4 of a cup of vegan chocolate chips (you can also use vegan cacao nibs).

How much you add depends on how chocolatey you want to make these guys! Make sure to reserve another 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top before baking.

You can also add in some nuts like walnuts or pecans if you want. But in that case I would do less chocolate chips so that your muffins are not too full of stuff – wait, is there such a thing as too much stuff in muffins?

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and use a scooper (an ice cream scoops work great!) and fill each liner about 3/4 of the way full.

Sprinkle the tops with chocolate chips and nuts if you are using nuts. You can even do a sprinkle of oats, I’ve done that and it adds a nice touch.

Bake your muffins at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, until that toothpick comes out clean.

Let your muffins cool on a wire rack and get ready to taste a little bit of chocolate chip banana heaven!

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Thanks so much for reading and we hope you enjoy this recipe!