Chocolate Banana Muffins
by Nigella. Featured in KITCHENIntroduction
I think of muffins as a treaty weekend breakfast, but these look so darkly elegant, especially in their matching dark-brown, tulip-skirted party frocks, that they positively beg to be brought out with coffee after dinner. Certainly, while most muffins are at their best pretty well straight out of the oven, the bananas in the mixture make sure these beauties keep their moist, eat-me texture long after those less favoured have staled and lost their allure.
I think of muffins as a treaty weekend breakfast, but these look so darkly elegant, especially in their matching dark-brown, tulip-skirted party frocks, that they positively beg to be brought out with coffee after dinner. Certainly, while most muffins are at their best pretty well straight out of the oven, the bananas in the mixture make sure these beauties keep their moist, eat-me texture long after those less favoured have staled and lost their allure.
Ingredients
Makes: 12 muffins
- 3 very ripe or overripe bananas
- 125 millilitres vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 100 grams soft light brown sugar
- 225 grams plain flour
- 3 tablespoons best-quality cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 3 very ripe or overripe bananas
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup soft light brown sugar
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons best-quality unsweetened cocoa (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with papers. Don’t worry about getting special papers: regular muffin cases will do the job.
- Mash the bananas by hand or with a freestanding mixer. Still beating and mashing, add the oil followed by the eggs and sugar.
- Mix the flour, cocoa powder and bicarb together and add this mixture, beating gently, to the banana mixture, then spoon it into the prepared papers.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark, rounded and peeking proudly out of their cases. Allow to cool slightly in their tin before removing to a wire rack.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with papers. Don’t worry about getting special papers: regular muffin cases will do the job.
- Mash the bananas by hand or with a freestanding mixer. Still beating and mashing, add the oil followed by the eggs and sugar.
- Mix the flour, unsweetened cocoa and bicarb together and add this mixture, beating gently, to the banana mixture, then spoon it into the prepared papers.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark, rounded and peeking proudly out of their cases. Allow to cool slightly in their tin before removing to a wire rack.
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more recipesYour comment has been submitted.
What 28 Others have said
-
Posted by CandiMom on 12th June 2016
-
Posted by Katiekates on 18th May 2016
-
Posted by gemandnat on 11th May 2016
-
Posted by emseguin on 21st February 2016
-
Posted by nik.jean on 31st December 2015
-
Posted by Maggiedon on 17th May 2015
-
Posted by Lilith-C on 29th January 2012
-
Posted by ohjonny on 19th December 2011
-
Posted by Lulubell97 on 6th October 2011
-
Posted by Sir Randall on 21st January 2015
-
Posted by Ottawa on 22nd November 2014
-
Posted by maz.zt on 18th August 2014
Show more commentsWOW!!! these muffins were too easy to be this GOOD. i usually dont use all all-purpose flour in recipes. i used 1/2 c all-purpose, 1/4 cup organic whole wheat, 1/4 cup spelt, 1/4 cup rye, 1/4 cup mixture of seed meals (sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flax, brown sesame, hemp)
and with all this the muffins are light. and i may even add a couple tablespoons LESS sugar next time.
Used my hand mixer, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and added a pinch of salt.
thank you sooooooo much for this recipe, i will make these again and again and again.
I love this recipe for my overripe bananas! It never fails and everyone loves them. I add chocolate chips and walnut pieces when I make them and they can't be beat!
I made these with dark soft brown sugar as mentioned in another comment. I put all of the mixture into a square tin & sprinkled with pumpkin seeds. I cut into 9 square portions & they were fantastic. Thanks for the recipe, it's so easy x
Best muffins ever. I just made these and I love them. I did not add any sugar, just the bananas, I also used coconut oil instead of vegetable, and they were PERFECT. So fluffy, chocolatey, easy, heavenly. I LOVE Nigella's recipes, and I rarely change things in them, I will make these with the sugar next time for guests!
I really wish I hadn't found this recipe. These are STUNNING and came out just like a photo in a magazine! Will just have to make them again and again : ) Thank you.
Like others, I have tweaked these: 125ml melted butter instead of the oil, 125g sugar just to up the sweetness a tad, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla, and finally 100 choc chips. Pretty much the perfect muffin, especially still warm from the oven
While these are allready a treat, to posh them up another notch (and in credit to the last grisly days of rainy-grey-weather-comfort-needs) I thought about adding a rich, chocolatey Frosting with a hint of whisky..
These, for want of a better word, are boring. Although visually appealing, the cocoa doesn't give the little muffins the oomph they deserve. I am working on stirring some dark choc chips or some melted 70% in to give it more of a chocolate bite... Or maybe as suggested above, some cinnamon would work too...
I am going to make them now for the second time but add some cinnamon as the 1st time they were a bit dull. I will also chop up some chocolate to put on top and hope they turn out a bit nicer... :) Ily Nigella - you are truly an inspiration and I read your books for hours at a time. I also want to become a journalist when I grow up and I just read that you are also a journalist...May my love of food be as strong as yours :)
Hi Guys, made these today. They're very easy light, moist and tasty. I used Dark Soft Brown Sugar as it's all I had so they don't taste as sweet as I'd hoped. I wonder if that actually makes much of a difference? I'll decorate them with some icing tomorrow maybe that will give them a touch more sweetness. Great recipe and I really enjoyed making it.
Delicious muffins; very moist. I was looking for a diary-free low-sugar muffin, and this recipe works. I have made it more nutritious by using 1 cup of brown flour and only 1/2 cup of white. I have increased the cocoa to 1/4 cup to make it more chocolaty. For the kids, I add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to make them a bit sweeter. A lunch-box regular now! For vegan muffins, I have replaced the 2 eggs with 1/2 cup of applesauce and 1 tsp baking powder. Worked brilliantly!
Tried these over the weekend - absolutely beautiful, airy and melt in your mouth! Shared it with friends (not without some difficulty I have to add!!); some found it to be not sweet enough but the addition of chocolate chips made up for it. Will be making some more tonight as the previous batch went too quickly!!