By Using our viral muffin base recipe, we've taken it up a notch with these banana chocolate protein muffins! They pack in 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, all in a delicious, chocolately muffin. Plus, with ripe bananas, these protein muffins only use natural sugar to sweeten them.
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Eating a high fiber and high protein breakfast or snack can be hard. Especially if you're like me and love sweets! So, I started making muffins that are much higher in both compared to regular muffins! Pair them with Greek yogurt and a latte for a breakfast with 30 grams of protein, or enjoy them on their own for a protein-rich snack.
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ingredient notes & substitutions
All substitutions are a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted. See the recipe card for quantities.
- All-purpose flour: The base structure for our muffins. Use gluten-free 1:1 if needed!
- Almond flour: Adds healthy fats, a soft crumb, and extra protein.
- Cocoa powder: For that rich, chocolatey flavor. Use natural or Dutch processed. Don't like chocolate? Make our classic banana cottage cheese muffins or pumpkin protein muffins!
- Ground flax seeds: These add protein, fiber, and structure-no dense muffins here.
- Baking powder & baking soda: Help give our muffins rise and fluff.
- Salt and vanilla: Enhances flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Bananas: Add moisture, natural sweetness, and that classic banana bread vibe. The browner a banana, the sweeter it is.
- Cottage cheese (blended): Makes the muffins super tender and adds a TON of protein. You can blend it in beforehand or blend it with the wet ingredients. Find other tasty ideas in our full post about breakfast recipes that use cottage cheese.
- Butter (or coconut oil): For richness and moisture. Choose based on your flavor preference.
- Eggs: Essential for binding and structure. They also bring protein to the party!
- Maple syrup: Natural sweetness with added complexity. Agave or honey work too.
- Chocolate chips: Go big or go home. Use your favorite variety!
- Hot coffee: Enhances the cocoa flavor without making the muffins taste like coffee. Use decaf or hot chocolate to keep it kid-friendly.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
yes, you need hot coffee
But decafe keeps it kid-friendly! Hot coffee reacts with the cocoa powder to intensify the chocolate flavor in these muffins. Don't skip it if you're a chocolate lover like I am!
high protein ingredient spotlight: cottage cheese
Cottage cheese is my hero ingredient for high-protein baking. One cup packs about 28g of protein, and when you blend it up, it adds moisture and creaminess without altering the flavor. It's especially perfect in blueberry protein muffins and pancakes, where you want a tender, rich texture but also need a little extra staying power. Blending helps eliminate curds and makes the batter silky smooth!
here's how to make banana chocolate protein muffins
Be sure to scroll to the recipe card for the full muffin recipe!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and mash up the bananas in a big bowl.
- Combine the rest of the wet ingredients (besides the coffee) in the bowl and mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients and fold in until just combined (it will be a bit lumpy still).
- Gently fold in the hot coffee and then the chocolate chips.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin tin cups (this makes 16 muffins).
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely (like 30 minutes) for the center to be fully baked. Then, enjoy!
quick recipe video
expert tips
- You can quickly ripen bananas by baking them on a sheet tray (with the skin on) for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Ripe bananas are sweeter and softer.
- Use hot coffee - if you're a coffee drinker, just save some of your morning coffee and heat it up to use for this recipe.
troubleshooting & testing notes
Let them rest: Muffins that cooled for less than 10 minutes were too soft in the center.
Room temperature ingredients increase fluffiness: Using cold ingredients led to denser muffins. Room temperature works best for even mixing and rise.
how to store & meal prep it
This recipe makes 16 muffins, so you'll probably have leftovers! I like to use some batter to make a handful of mini protein muffins as easy snacks for my toddler. Here's how to store them:
- Room Temp: Store in an airtight container (or ziplock bag) on the counter for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezer: Freeze in a sealed bag or container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight or microwave straight from frozen for 30 seconds at a time.
- Reheating: Microwave for 15-30 seconds or pop in a toaster oven for 3-5 minutes until warm.
my favorite chocolate muffin pairings
I love these muffins as part of my protein breakfast or as a snack before a workout. Here's how I enjoy them:
- For a peanut butter cup vibe, split a muffin in half and drizzle both sides with peanut butter. This also adds more protein!
- If you're obsessed with chocolate, I'd suggest pairing these muffins with our brownie batter overnight oats for a filling breakfast!
- I love having these as a snack before a workout because they provide carbs and protein! If you like these muffins, you might also like our chocolate-filled zucchini muffins or fudgy cottage cheese brownies.
Recipe
banana chocolate protein muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free 1:1 works too)
- ½ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup ground flax seeds
- 2.5 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 bananas (ripe)
- 2 cups cottage cheese (blended, low-fat)
- ½ cup melted butter (or coconut oil)
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1.5 cups chocolate chips
- ¼ cup hot coffee
Before you start!
If you make this recipe, please take a moment to leave us a review. We love to hear from you!
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Blend your 2 cups cottage cheese, and make ¼ cup hot coffee.
- NOTE! The easiest way to blend cottage cheese is to blend the whole tub. If you don't have enough cottage cheese in the blender, it won't work. So, either blend all of it, use an immersion blender, or pop the cottage cheese, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla into the blender and blend until all the curds are gone.
- Mash the 2 bananas in a large bowl then add the 2 cups cottage cheese (blended), ½ cup melted butter, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 cup maple syrup, and mix well until combined.
- Then add the 2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup almond flour, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, ½ cup ground flax seeds, 2.5 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¾ teaspoon salt, and gently fold it all together (it will be a bit lumpy still).
- Next, add your ¼ cup hot coffee to the batter and give it a good mix. Then, gently fold in the 1.5 cups chocolate chips.
- Then scoop into a lined muffin tin, filling only every other one. This is key to getting tall, bakery-style muffins. Fill them really full, almost domed. You'll have to work in batches, but it's worth it! You should have enough batter for 16 muffins.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. (If you're making mini muffins bake for 15 minutes.)
- Remove from the oven. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely (like 30 minutes) for the center to be fully baked. Then, enjoy!
Video
Notes
Coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder and makes these muffins so so good! So yes, you can skip it or use espresso powder, but you'll be missing out. Can I make these mini muffins?
Yes, just bake them for 15 minutes.
Looking for more information?
Additional substitution information can be found above in the substitution section of this post.
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate and for informational purposes only.
Can I switch out regular flour with oat flour?
I haven't tested this so I'm not sure. Generally it works out ok, but you might need to let the batter settle for 5 minutes to see if it needs more flour or moisture.
These are incredible. I'm about to make my 4th batch in 4 weeks. Thank you!!
That's so great to hear!
These are so good!! me and my kids are obsessed with them!! I love everything you make!
That's so awesome to hear!!
Can I make without the flax seeds? Or is there something else I can substitute?
Sure! It works just fine without them.
can we use anything else instead of eggs?
Yup a flax egg works!
Made these and the wife loves them. I've made the blueberry version several times now. She prefers the chocolate chip to the blueberry. I found the dough kind of wet, maybe a little oat flour, like a previous question, would help? Though I don't think I'll change the recipe, she told me to find the recipe and do it exactly the same!!
hmm, you could certainly try adding 1/4c or 1/2c of oat flour to try it out a bit but my guess is the size of the bananas. If you found them sweet enough, I would reduce the maple syrup to 3/4 cup but keep everything else the same to dry out the bater a bit (maybe add more chocolate chips to make up for the sweetness). glad you still enjoyed them!
Hi! I would love to see your recipe by weight in the future. Bananas can vary in size tremendously. So maybe at least an ideal weight for that would be helpful. Thanks!
Thanks for letting me know! It's definitely a goal of mine but as a single person who does all the testing, writing, videography, etc I haven't been able to. Hoping to add to new ones though in 2026.