In July, some of our family friends flew out to California for a weeklong vacation to visit us. Although I spent a few days during their trip working on blog and cookbook stuff (update on that coming really soon—I can’t wait to share the cookbook sneak peek with you!), my parents played tour guides and showed them all around San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the relaxing kid-friendly country club pool in our hometown.
On their last evening, they splashed around in the pool with my mom for a few hours, and because they stayed a little longer than they expected, Mom bought gourmet salads and sandwiches from the country club’s kitchen to bring home for dinner for everyone to eat. Lazy summer nights around here mean that nobody has to cook or wash dishes!
Mom thought that our friends’ three-year-old daughter would enjoy a “picnic” dinner, the same way my brother and I always begged for them throughout our childhood, so we spread out beach towels across the family room floor and sat down in a circle with our takeout containers. (The towels catch all of the spills and are much easier to clean than the carpet!)
While we ate, little Miss G nibbled at her own grilled cheese sandwich along with some of the hardboiled egg and avocado her mom offered from her salad. Since her small appetite didn’t quite match the large size of her meal, Miss G walked around the circle, handing out one French fry at a time to the rest of us. Thank goodness I managed to snag a seat right next to her—fries are one of my biggest weaknesses!
The next morning while my dad packed their luggage into the car, Miss G sat on her mom’s lap, slowly snacking on the last of the chocolate chip blueberry banana muffins I had made the day before for them. When I asked her if she liked it, she nodded, a cute purple stain on the side of her lips, and then she proclaimed in that thoughtful way toddlers do, “But… But… I think you should make a strawberry version.”
I laughed and immediately promised her that I would.
Since I just returned from spending the weekend close to their neck of the woods in Minnesota, I thought this would be the perfect time to share little Miss G’s recipe request with you: Chocolate Chip Strawberry Banana Muffins. They’re super easy to make, full of healthy good-for-you ingredients, and still as tender as cupcakes. No wonder that sweet girl enjoyed them so much!
Since the dry ingredients are fairly predictable—100% whole wheat flour, leaveners, and salt—let’s talk about the rest of the ingredients instead. Because these muffins only have 1 tablespoon of oil, the rest of their tender texture comes from my favorite ingredient in healthier baking: Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt provides the same moisture as extra oil or butter for a fraction of the calories, and it provides a protein boost too. That’s definitely a win-win in my book!
For the best banana flavor, it’s important to pick very dark speckled bananas. The more spots they have, the sweeter they’ll be! I generally wait to bake until my bananas look more brown than yellow because they provide a lot more natural sweetness and require less added sweetener.
To keep these muffins clean-eating friendly and free from refined sweeteners, I turned to honey instead. We’ll only need a few tablespoons as long as your bananas are ripe! Maple syrup or agave would be great substitutes as well.
Because I happened to have an extra carton lying around, I opted for fresh strawberries in these muffins. Normally I snack on them a little too frequently and forget to save any for baking… So if you’re in that same boat, frozen strawberries will work too! The baking time may increase by a few minutes, but the taste and texture will remain the same. And don’t forget the chocolate chips!
So there you go—healthy muffins that practically taste like cupcakes. I hope you and little Miss G enjoy them!
| Chocolate Chip Strawberry Banana Muffins | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (200g) mashed banana (about 2 medium)
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp (45mL) honey
- ¼ cup (60mL) nonfat milk
- 1 cup (160g) diced fresh strawberries (about 8 large)
- 2 tbsp (28g) miniature chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana and Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps of yogurt remain. Stir in the honey. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour in 3 equal portions.) Gently fold in the strawberries and chocolate chips.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the muffin cups for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.
For a gluten-free version, I recommend the following blend: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum.
Frozen strawberries may be substituted instead. Reserve 1 tablespoon of whole wheat flour, and toss that with the frozen strawberries just before folding them into the batter. The baking time may increase by a couple of minutes.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
These look delicious! I’ll definitely be trying this once my bananas ripen.
I hope you enjoy the muffins Elaine!
Since my son just became a vegan, I was wondering what I could use in place of egg whites? Would you happen to know?
Ener-G is my favorite egg replacer! It’s a shelf-stable powder and will keep for a very long time. To replace one egg white, simply whisk together 1 ½ teaspoons of Ener-G with 2 tablespoons of warm water, and let that sit for a few minutes. That substitution should work in nearly all of my baking recipes. I hope you both enjoy the muffins!
All the flavors in these muffins – I cannot even comprhend how delicious they would all taste together!
Thanks GiGi! 🙂
I love using extra-ripe bananas in recipes! I buy extras just to make sure I have some to get ripe. If I don’t use them in any recipes, then I freeze them for later. Perfect for smoothies!
That’s a great tip about freezing them Melissa! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Amy,
I am from Germany and I really like your blog! Your recipes sound so great and I tried this strawberry banana chocolate muffins as a birthday surprise for my boyfriend. It was my first try baking with bananas and Coconut oil instead of butter and maple sirup instead of sugar. They really smell so good in the oven and they taste so delicious!!! Thank you for this recipe and for the inspiration!! 🙂
Best wishes,
Anna-Lena
Your boyfriend is so lucky to have you Anna-Lena! You’re so sweet to bake him homemade treats for his birthday, and I’m honored that you chose my recipe. I really hope you both enjoyed the muffins! 🙂
Hi Amy! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Would leaving out the strawberries be a problem? My boyfriend is allergic to berries.
You’re so sweet to want to make these for your boyfriend Jess! He’s so lucky to have you. 🙂 You can leave out the strawberries, or you can substitute another fruit he isn’t allergic to! Maybe apples or peaches? I can’t wait to hear what you both think of these muffins!
Hello Amy! Do you think it would be okay to substitute regular milk with almond milk?
Thank you!
Yes, that’s fine! I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins, Chloe! 🙂