These banana muffins are soft, buttery, and spiced with cinnamon. They’re wonderful plain, with chopped walnuts, or even chocolate chips. You need 3 large ripe bananas and a few basic kitchen ingredients to get started.
Banana bread is wonderful, but muffins are quicker, more convenient, easily portable, and taste just as good. I’ve been searching for the perfect EASY banana muffin recipe since my daughter began eating solids. We always have bananas in the house which means we eventually have spotty bananas ready for baking!
These quick and easy banana muffins bake in 30 minutes, so if you need to be in and out of the kitchen FAST (um, don’t we all?), this recipe is your savior.
Banana Muffin Ingredients—Each Is Important!
This banana muffin recipe requires a handful of basics like flour, sugar, and milk. That’s what I love about baking—it’s the same base ingredients for basically everything.
- Flour: I tested the recipe with both all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour and LOVED both variations. See recipe Note below.
- Melted Butter: We’ll use melted butter as the fat, though melted coconut oil works too. I love using melted butter in baked goods, and though I was afraid these banana muffins would taste too dense without creaming softened butter (which incorporates air), that’s not the case at all.
- Bananas, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg: The flavor team.
- Egg: 1 egg gives the muffins structure.
- Milk: A common ingredient in some muffin recipes including pumpkin muffins, milk provides necessary moisture. Dry muffins… the worst.
- Sugar: Sweetens. When I make these for my daughter, I use half brown sugar and half coconut sugar. You can use all brown sugar, all coconut sugar, or a mixture of the two. Keep in mind that coconut sugar isn’t quite as sweet as brown sugar, so the flavor will change. See my recipe Note. 🙂
Do these banana muffins taste like banana bread? Yes, totally! But they have a lighter, softer, and more buttery texture. You’ll love it.
How to Make Banana Muffins Moist
There’s a fine line between a moist banana muffin and a dry banana muffin, aka sandpaper in a cupcake wrapper. To make banana muffins moist, make sure you’re using a solid ratio of dry to wet ingredients. I found the muffins to be dry without the addition of liquid, but a couple Tablespoons of milk solved the problem. Use a little fat (butter), brown sugar, and plenty of bananas for lots of moisture and flavor.
How to Mash Bananas
So I started doing this last year and it’s been a total game changer whenever I make banana cake, these breakfast cookies, banana bread, or chocolate banana bread. Just use your mixer to mash bananas! Peel and break them into chunks, place in your mixer, and beat until mashed. Beat the rest of the wet ingredients right into this bowl, then beat in the dry ingredients. So easy.
Can I Use Frozen Bananas?
Yes and I do this often. Thaw the frozen bananas at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
This banana muffin recipe is perfect if you:
- Have 3 large spotty bananas
- Love banana bread
- Need a quick homemade breakfast, snack, etc.
- Don’t feel like creaming butter and sugar together
- Don’t feel like dirtying 100 pans
And, to turn these into a scrumptious treat, you could dip the tops of the cooled muffins into chocolate ganache and add sprinkles. (Affiliate link: I love these naturally colored sprinkles.) You can also add the streusel topping from these banana chocolate chip streusel muffins.
More Muffin Recipes
These easy banana muffins have been my default for awhile, though I usually switch between these and a couple other muffin recipes previously published. I consider these muffins on the healthier side and they’re each toddler & adult approved. 🙂
- Baby Apple Oat Muffins
- Bran Muffins
- Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins (these include oats)
- Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins & Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Zucchini Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Would love to know if you try any of them!
Print
Quick & Easy Banana Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These banana muffins are soft, buttery, and spiced with cinnamon. They’re wonderful plain, but taste fantastic with 1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips. You need 3 ripe bananas and a handful of basic kitchen ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas)
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted (or melted coconut oil)
- 2/3 cup (135g) packed light or dark brown sugar (or coconut sugar)*
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk*
- optional: 1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, mash the bananas. On medium speed, beat or whisk in the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then beat or whisk until combined. If adding nuts or chocolate chips, fold them in now. Batter will be thick.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16–18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21–23 minutes, give or take. (For mini muffins, bake 12–14 total minutes at 350°F (177°C).) Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to continue cooling.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: For longer storage, freeze muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Why the initial high temperature? The hot burst of air will spring up the top of the muffin quickly, then the inside of the muffin can bake for the remainder of the time. This helps the muffins rise nice and tall.
- Whole Wheat Flour: Feel free to substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour or use a mix of both as long as you use 1 and 1/2 cups total. If using all whole wheat flour, add another Tablespoon (15ml) of milk.
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
- Sugar: You can use 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar or coconut sugar. Or a mixture of these to yield 2/3 cup. If using 2/3 cup coconut sugar, the muffins won’t be as sweet. I find they taste best with 2/3 cup brown sugar or 1/3 cup of each. 2/3 cup of honey or pure maple syrup works too, though the muffins will taste a little more moist in the centers. I’m unsure about sugar substitutes, but let me know if you try any.
- Milk: Use your favorite variety of dairy or nondairy milk.
- Banana Bread: Here’s my favorite banana bread recipe. 🙂
Reader Comments and Reviews
Is it possible to substitute the brown sugar for Honey?
Thanks in advance
Hi Lari, see the recipe Notes for sugar substitutes!
I just made these, and was worried because I forgot to add the two tbsps of milk in….but they turned out fine, deliciously so, in fact!
Would the cooking time change if you wanted to make mini muffins with this recipe?
Hi Stephanie, For mini muffins, bake 12–14 total minutes at 350°F (177°C).
These are great!! I just saw the question from Lexi about mini-muffins–I’m looking forward to making them for a large group.
These muffins were ridiculous! So fluffy, didn’t flatten and I used trivia brown sugar make sure to follow directions for baking, it works. I made them for a group home I work in they loved them also.
Do you happen to have the nutrition facts for these? Just made them and they are amazing!!!
Hi Bethany, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
The banana bread recipe sounds very good I’m going to add blue berries when I make them I have a banana bread recipe and a ad blue berrys to it and it good to
sally never fails (also switch regular melted butter for browned just ups the flavors)
I’m obsessed with these!! I’ve been making them once a week! Great recipe
We’re so glad you enjoy these banana muffins, Lynn! Thanks for trusting our recipe.
I just made these banana muffins and they were amazing, so moist and full of flavour. I did have to make one tiny change because I was out of milk, so I swapped in some plain Greek yogurt instead. Even with that swap, they turned out perfect! I followed the rest of the instructions exactly as written. I’m already looking forward to trying more of your recipes, especially the morning glory muffins.
Since your other recipes are always to reliably amazing, we decided to give these a try. They’re in the oven now and smell amazing, we’ll be thinking of you while snacking on them when we’re out on the Chesapeake tomorrow!
I love this recipe! I am wondering how many jumbo muffins this will make. Will it fill 6?
Hi Mell, absolutely. You can use the baking times and instructions from these jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
I halved this recipe and they pretty good. Husband said one of my best, high praise lol I also added walnuts and chocolate chips
10/10 holy! I did 4 bananas, and scooped my flour with the measuring cup xD – still turned out great! added reese chips and walnuts – so good!!
Sally,
I’ve been makingmuffins, using recipes from King Arthur flour – you knowe, tested and true. They’ve just not worked – not enough rise and insufficient fat for tenderness. So bottom line – I’m not a fan of mufins.
These banana muffins converted me – not too oily, tender, and really fine flavour. I also appreciate – REALLY APPRECIATE – that you provide mass values as well as volume measurements. That makes it so much easier!
If anyone is wondering if they should make these the only answer is YES. DO SO!
Cheers from Nova Scotia!
These bana
I give this banana muffin recipe 2 thumbs up! No matter what variation I do like chocolate chips, nuts, etc they always come out delicious. Simple and easy to make. My whole family loves them.
Can I use a different kind of flour like oat, bread or cake??
Hi Emilie, all-purpose flour is best here. You might also enjoy these whole wheat banana oat muffins.
Yes, I do follow the recipe and change to gluten free flour by adding 1 extra egg. Depending on your GF flour you may need to add extra milk. GF flour needs more moisture. Baking at 425F for 5 min is a must too.
Hi. Would canola oil do okay as a substitute for the butter? Thanks.
Hi John, you could use oil here, but you’ll miss the buttery flavor!
I used this recipe to use up a freezer full of ripe bananas. I made 3 dozen, all of which turned out perfect. I placed them in the kitchen/common area at my retirement village and they were quickly hoovered up with lots of “yummy” compliments given. This is now my go to recipe to use up nanas. I added a half cup of chopped walnuts and half cup of chocolate chips, I will continue to add these as well.
Absolutely delicious! I blend all wet ingredients plus cinnamon & nutmeg in my ninja & let it sit in the fridge overnight for the flavours to enhance. Whisk in sugar, then fold in sifted dry ingredients until just incorporated. OMG the flavour is next level!
Excellent muffins. Turn out perfect every time. Thank you
Love these! I make them about once a week (I keep bananas in the freezer and pull three out in the morning the day I’m going to make a batch). I’ve done variations of the recipe: stir in chocolate chips and hemp seeds, or a swirl of peanut butter.
I usually use half whole wheat flour and sub a half cup of Greek yogurt for the milk to add more protein. It’s a fool proof recipe with all the variations I’ve tried! Thank you!
Delicious! I don’t actually love banana bread/muffins that much (I can’t stand bananas by themselves) but my husband had gotten a bunch and they were starting to look sad, so I used the last three to make this recipe.
After mashing I was about 80 grams short; I guess what I thought were large bananas were closer to medium? I topped off with unsweetened applesauce, which I figured would work because I’ve had success doing that with pumpkin bread before. It basically tastes like nothing and bananas are so strongly flavored it didn’t affect the taste at all. Used LorAnn butter vanilla emulsion instead of plain vanilla extract and added a cup of mini chocolate chips. The end result was SO good! Perfect soft texture and the flavor was exactly what I was hoping for.
Amazing ! Came out brilliantly first try
Oh my!! Amazingly delicious! It’s in the recipe book forever now!
These are delicious. I had macadamia nuts on hand so I used them up! Moist and flavorful. Thanks for the recipe.
hi sally, I love your recipes if I wanted to make this without eggs, what can I substitute it with and how much?
Hi Chelsea, we haven’t tested an egg-free version of this recipe, so we’re unsure what substitution might work best. Let us know if you do any experimenting.
I used plain yogurt as a substitute for the eggs (1/4 cup yogurt for each egg)— making sure the yogurt isn’t too thick (if it is, water it down a bit). I used this substitute for banana bread, and it turned out amazing!
These were the best ever! The texture was so light compared to the recipe I’ve used for 60+ years. Everyone in our small group Bible study also loved them. I’m printing a copy for my recipe box. NOTHING goes in there before passing the test LOL
Any changes to consider if I wanted to make these jumbo?
Hi Lori, you can use the baking times and instructions from these jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide. Enjoy!
I added a little love on the top ….a mix of sugar and cinnamon… my grandsons tribute … came out delicious …
I thought it was about time I left a review. Been making these twice a month for ages. They are always perfect and seem to improve over the 2/3 days that they last. So scrummy. My only change is I use 1/2 tspn of nutmeg and 1.5tspns of cinnamon. Love them