Easy Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins For Kids

Inside: Get the kids in the kitchen to make these easy chocolate chip banana muffins. Easy to make in a classroom or the kitchen!

Preschoolers love to help in the kitchen. Have you noticed that? They want to do what we do! So, we love to add cooking activities with our little friends. I look for recipes that are easy and tasty, and that is why I chose this easy chocolate chip banana muffins recipe.

I’ve found that with a bit of preparation ahead of time, cooking with kids can be quite fun! Yes, even with a class of 16. Over the years I’ve found ways to keep the activity from becoming overwhelming. I will share them in this post.

Easy Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

What you will need:

Chocolate chip banana muffin recipe
Fork for mashing banana
Large spoon for mixing
Plate for mashing bananas
Bowl large enough to fit all the ingredients
Mini muffin tins
Non-stick spray for tins

Setting it up:

Place all ingredients on the counter or table.
Slice the bananas so that they will be easy to mash with fork.
Have plate and fork ready for mashing bananas.

Making the muffin batter:

First place the dry ingredients into the bowl. Add egg and applesauce.

Now for the bananas:

Place a few slices of banana on the plate and show your preschoolers how to press the fork on top to mash it.

Tip the plate over mixing bowl and scrape mashed bananas into it.

OR, scoop the mashed banana using a spoon and transfer it to the bowl.

Add the chocolate chips.

And start stirring until everything is mixed. Our preschoolers worked in teams of 2. They even stirred together!

Bake according to directions. Let cool and remove from pan.

Oh, our classroom smelled delicious. The entire building we reside in smelled delicious! We went the gym for large motor play and when we returned, it was time to taste our scrumptious easy chocolate chip banana muffins along with the rest of our snack.

Success!

All 16 preschoolers LOVED them.

Especially the chocolate.

But of course!

Tips for cooking in the classroom:

Prepare as much as you can before the children are involved.
If you have a short amount of time, as we do, pre-measure ingredients. The children can still count how many spoonfuls they put into the bowl.
Have a garbage can close by.
Work near the sink, if you can.
If each child gets a disposable cup or bowl for stirring, label with names beforehand. This makes it really easy to keep track of who has not yet participated.
Work in small groups. We usually have 4 children at a time working on a cooking activity. Otherwise… well, it would be crazy, chaotic, and I might not ever want to do it again. I think as a younger teacher I might have. I’ve just blocked it out of my memory.
Make sure you allow enough time for baking and cooling. Since our program is only 3 hours long, we do our cooking activity first thing after our morning meeting. This way, the food has baked and cooled by the time we have snack.