Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins

These quick and easy Greek yogurt banana muffins might be on the healthier side, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still taste like a treat! Lower in both refined sugar and oil than an average banana muffin, they contain a whole cup of protein-packed yogurt. But you’ll also get a little surprise – caramel chips for extra flavor and pizzazz!

Light, fluffy, and moist on the inside and lightly crisp on top, these muffins will have you hooked after the very first bite!

You can never have too many ideas for ways to use up overripe bananas, right? Especially in the summer when you buy green bananas one day and within a few days they’re already speckled and brown!

These yummy banana yogurt muffins with caramel chips are just that little bit different to a standard banana bread recipe!

They also come hot on the heels of two other popular Greek yogurt muffin recipes: these super moist and fluffy Greek yogurt blueberry muffins (with their hundreds of 5 star reviews!), and these healthier chocolate chip muffins.

Why you’ll love them

✔ Great flavor and texture. Light, fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious on the inside, and lightly crisp on top. The plentiful mashed ripe banana and a few caramel chocolate chips add just the right amount of sweetness so the cakes still feel like a treat.

All-purpose flour: Use white whole wheat pastry flour or gluten free if you prefer.

Baking powder, baking soda and salt

Cinnamon and nutmeg: These spices go perfectly with the banana flavor in the muffins.

Ripe bananas: The riper the better, really (within reason!), for better banana flavor in the muffins.

Brown sugar and honey: Just 1/4 cup of each. The brown sugar adds a subtle caramel flavor, and the honey keeps the recipe very low in refined sugar. It’s fine to use pure maple syrup or another liquid sweetener instead of the honey if you like.

Ripe mashed banana: You’ll need 1.5 cups of mashed banana, which is usually 3-4 medium to large bananas. So this recipe is perfect for when your fruit bowl is overflowing with overripe bananas!

Eggs: 2 large.

Oil: Just half a cup. I often use a mixture of olive oil and canola, to keep the recipe fairly economical. Melted coconut oil or even melted butter work, too.

Greek yogurt: My favorite kind is authentic plain Greek yogurt made of just milk with yogurt cultures. Feel free to use vanilla flavored Greek yogurt instead.

Caramel baking chips: I love to add just a few (around 1/3 to 1/2 cup) caramel flavored chocolate chips to give the muffins a little extra sweetness. Caramel goes perfectly with banana (try these caramelized banana pancakes if you don’t believe me). White chocolate chips work well, too.

Banana chips: Just a few (18 to be exact!) to decorate the tops of the muffins. Optional, of course, but highly recommended.

How to make them

The step-by-step guide below should help you make the recipe perfectly first time. Scroll down to the end for the full recipe including ingredient amounts.

The first thing you do is mix together all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – so the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices.

Then second (very easy) step is to mix together all the ‘wet’ ingredients in either a medium bowl or a jug – so mashed banana, lightly whisked eggs, oil, and Greek yogurt. It doesn’t look very appetizing, but trust me it will all make sense when mixed into the flour!

From here, your banana yogurt muffins couldn’t be easier to make! Just mix the wet ingredients briefly into the dry, until everything is JUST combined. You definitely don’t want to overmix, which can result in dense, chewy muffins.

Fold the caramel chips into the batter. As you can probably see, this time I ran out of chips, so I roughly chopped some caramel chocolate instead.

Then fill some standard sized muffin cups with the muffin batter (I usually just use a metal spoon). It’s OK to fill them almost right up to the top. They won’t overflow in the oven.

Pop a dried banana chip on top of each muffin, then bake! They’ll be ready before you know it, in around 17 minutes. The muffin tops should be nicely risen and browned, and a skewer poked into the center will come out clean.

Variations

I do love these healthy banana muffins with yogurt just as they are. But you can certainly personalize them a little with the following:

• No caramel baking chips? Simply use white, milk or dark chocolate chips instead for chocolate banana muffins. Or how about peanut butter chips?

• Use vanilla flavored Greek yogurt for a subtle hint of vanilla. Or how about another flavored Greek yogurt that plays well with banana? I’m thinking mango, apple, or pumpkin spice!

• Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup nuts or dried fruit! How about chopped walnuts or pecans, sultanas or dried cranberries?

• Add a few fresh berries if you like, such as blueberries or raspberries.

• Skip the dried banana on top, and sprinkle over some flaked almonds instead.

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