Sour Cream Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

With deep banana, toffee and chocolate flavours, these Sour Cream Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins make the most decadent breakfast or snack!   This recipe transforms ripe bananas and pantry staples into craveable bakery style muffins with crispy, crunchy tops and tender, moist, chocolate-studded interiors.  This quick and easy recipe produces 18 muffins, so you can make some for now and some to freeze for later.

To create these delicious muffins, simply mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.  No mixer is needed, making this the perfect recipe for beginner bakers or those working in small kitchens.  It’s currently the dead of winter and nothing is more satisfying right now than a rich and comforting banana chocolate muffin, but I’m actually thinking ahead to summer, and lake houses and beach front cottage rentals.  Summer cabins and vacation rentals don’t usually come with stand mixers, so easy recipes that can be made with basic kitchen equipment are the best for whipping up simple, fresh-from-the-oven treats to be enjoyed with coffee on the dock, or while curled up in the shade with a good book.  If this is sounding good to you, be sure to bookmark or Pin this recipe so you don’t lose it!  See the Pinterest Pin It button above to easily add it to your Pintest account.  

What goes in Sour Cream Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins?

• Bananas:  For the sweetest muffins with the deepest banana flavour, use soft, brown, overripe bananas.  Brown skins and black spots are fine, so this recipe is the perfect way to use up bananas that are no longer appealing to eat fresh.
• Butter: There’s no need to cream the butter with the sugars in this easy recipe.  Simply melt the butter in the microwave, allow it to cool slightly, then stir it into the batter.   Butter adds tenderness and delicious, rich flavour.
• Eggs: Pull your eggs out of the fridge about half and hour to one hour before you start baking to allow them to come to room temperature.  Room temperature eggs are easier to incorporate into a batter.
• Sour Cream:  Sour cream gives these muffins a soft, tender texture and a lightly tangy flavour.  Be sure to use a sour cream with at least 5% milk fat, though full fat sour cream really is best in this recipe.  You only need 1/2 cup of sour cream in the whole batch (18 muffins), so I say go for the full fat sour cream for maximum richness.  Never use fat free sour cream in baking since the thickeners and other additives can do strange things to baked goods.  If you are looking for a healthier alternative to sour cream, full fat plain Greek yogurt can be substituted.  Greek yogurt is a little tangier than sour cream, but is equally delicious in these muffins.  Whether using sour cream or Greek yogurt, be sure to bring it to room temperature before using so it incorporates well into the batter.
• Vanilla:  Use pure vanilla extract for best flavour.
• Brown Sugar: Why are there two types of sugar in this recipe?  While both provide sweetness, each type of sugar contributes a little differently to both flavour and texture.  Brown sugar adds both moisture to the muffins and a toffee flavour from the molasses.
• Granulated Sugar: Also known as white sugar, in addition to sweetness, granulated sugar provides crispiness.  One of the best parts of these muffins is the crispy, crunchy, golden muffin top, which is aided by both the addition of granulated sugar to the batter and an extra sugar sprinkle on top.
• Flour: All purpose flour works perfectly in this recipe.  Remember to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level the top with a knife so you don’t accidentally add too much.
• Baking Powder: For high, domed, bakery-style muffin tops, a generous amount of baking powder is used in this recipe.  Be sure to check the expiration date on the baking powder box to make sure it is still active before using!
• Kosher Salt:  I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt in all my recipes.  If you use Windsor or Morton’s brands of kosher salt, you will need to use about half of the amount that the recipe calls for since Windsor and Morton’s kosher salts are denser and much saltier per volume than Diamond Crystal.
• Chocolate Chips: I like to use a 50/50 mix of semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips for best flavour, but you can use the type you prefer.  A full cup of chocolate chips goes into the batter, then more are sprinkled on top for maximum chocolate flavour.
• Grated Chocolate:  To make the muffins extra enticing, consider sprinkling a little grated chocolate on top of the muffins before they go in the oven.  It isn’t necessary, but definitely gives the muffins a bakery look!

DRINK PAIRINGS

These banana chocolate muffins are great at any time of day, but I enjoy them most, fresh from the oven, as an afternoon snack.  As they say, I dare you to eat just one.  Personally, I can never eat just one, but please let me know how it goes for you.  For the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, I highly recommend making yourself a London Fog to go with your muffin(s).  The slightly sweet, vanilla flavour of this hot drink is the perfect match! 

RECIPE NOTES

• Don’t throw out your overripe bananas!  Bananas that are too brown and mushy to eat fresh are perfect for baking.  Use the brown bananas on your countertop to make these muffins now, or toss the whole bananas, in their peel, into the freezer to save them for later.  When you’re ready to make the muffins, remove the bananas from the freezer and place on a rimmed plate to defrost on the counter.  Once defrosted, remove the peel and add the bananas to the recipe.  Note that the bananas will turn a blackish-brown in the freezer and this is okay.  Once defrosted, the interiors will also be brown and mushy, but this is also fine.
• Pro Tip:  Do not overmix!  I usually recommend mixing muffin batters by hand and making as few strokes as possible once the flour is added.   If you over mix your batter, you will activate the gluten in the flour, resulting in tougher and chewier muffins.  For tender and fluffy muffins, use a light hand to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined, then stop.
• Temperature change. Starting the baking at a high temperature, then reducing the heat part way has become a common technique for baking muffins.  The initial blast of high heat makes the tops rise high and round, while the lower temperature allows the centres to cook through without over-browning the muffin tops.  You don’t need to take the muffins out of the oven during the temperature change.  In fact, you shouldn’t even open the oven door.  Simply adjust the temperature, then reset the timer to finish baking the muffins.  
• These banana muffins are best eaten the day they are made, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.