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, or 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!
PrintQuick & 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. 🙂
I love this recipe! I added a handful of frozen blueberries and made them as jumbo muffins. They were sooooo good! 🙂
OMG these are awesome!. Light and fluffy and we’ll risen…..will make these again for sure
Made these for the first time today, but it definitely won’t be the last! I added walnuts to the whole batch and made a few with chocolate chips. I also added sugar to the tops. Love the crunchy tops with the super moist insides. Thanks for another great recipe!!!
Not sure if I did something wrong but they didn’t come out as well as I hoped. I’ve definitely had better but at least they’re edible, maybe I put too much nutmeg.
Hi! Can I use a combination bananas and applesauce? How would I adjust the recipe if so? TIA
Yes, you can use any combination of mashed bananas and applesauce to yield 1 and 1/2 cups.
Thank you! I did make them using 2 bananas and a container of unsweetened apples sauce and also substituted the butter with non dairy margarine and unsweetened almond milk for reg. Milk for dairy free option. They turned out delicious!
Great recipe! Super easy! I used stevia baking sugar substitute. I followed the stevia package instructions which stated to measure like sugar, so I used 2/3 cups as per the recipe. I also used stevia sweetened chocolate chips. Turned put great. Thanks for posting!
THESE WERE SO GOOD! All 3 of my (relatively) picky kiddos LOVED them! I did use the brown sugar/coconut sugar combo, and they were perfectly sweet. Totally using this recipe as my go-to from now on! 🙂
Can you make these into mini muffins? Can you sub applesauce for 1/2 of the butter?
For mini muffins, bake 12-14 total minutes at 350°F (177°C). You can try to substitute half of the butter, however keep in mind that the less fat a muffin has in it the more rubbery they’ll taste.
Would it be ok doing these in a loaf pan? I don’t really like banana bread because of the texture and this recipe seems much better
Sure! It won’t rise quite as high as banana bread. Bake at 350°F (177°C) in a 9×5 inch or 8×4 inch loaf pan. I’m unsure of the exact bake time, but you can use a toothpick to test for doneness. Let me know how you like it!
I made it this morning and it was AMAZING! I’m saving this recipe for forever. Even making it in a loaf pan, because my oven is unregulated right now, I started at 400F (200C) for 15 minutes and then lowered it to 350F (180C). It worked perfectly! It rose beautifully and it was moist and fluffy on the inside. Would – and will – reccomend it to all my friends
Great Banana Muffin recipe. I doubled it and made 1/2 with no nuts. Second batch I added pecans. Both batch were tall, had a great flavor and very moist. I will always use this recipe from now on. Thanks!
What a fabulous banana muffin recipe!! I am so pleased Google found it for me. I will definitely be using this recipe again. They were a total success, light, moist and so tasty!! Thank you.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s the best. I have made these 3 times in the last 2 weeks! Lockdown tales, I tell you.
And it’s so forgiving! The second time, I made it with cocoa powder substituting some of the flour and, lesser quantity of brown sugar. It still turned out great!
And tonight, I completely did away with the sugar. Used dates instead. So added cocoa powder, walnuts, milk and dates. And it turned out so moist! Love this recipe. 🙂
I started baking in 2016. But I must say this has been by far the. best. banana. muffins I tasted! Omg. This is my new fave. Not oily, not dry, not sticky, just right sweetness. Little toasted outside but really moist inside. I’m gonna cry! Sooo good. 🙂
Had some nasty looking bananas…with the lock down…my husband and I couldn’t eat all that I bought….these were really the best banana muffins I’ve every baked…moist and just yummy. I added walnuts and Crasins…just great!
Thanks
Best banana bread muffins ever. I used Becel margarine sticks instead of butter and replaced the sugar with splenda as I do in all my baking. Sally I love so many if your recipes especially your cornbread recipe which I have made 3 times this past month.
I just made these and they were so moist and delicious! I did two variations – one with dark chocolate chips and walnuts as suggested and experimented with another one with some fresh strawberry pulp that I had from making ice cream a few days ago. The strawberry variation turned out to be way more moist and so so delicious with just a hint of strawberry flavour! Will definitely make again – thanks for sharing!
This is a great recipe! Even with less amount of bananas these turned out great. The brown sugar and cinnamon do the trick, and the step decrease in temperature helps bake them wonderfully.
These are soo good! I used a butter subsistute and replaced nutmeg with all spice as that’s all I had and they turned out amazing!
Super easy recipe and the banana muffin is so delicious. Can I keep the batter for next day baking?
Hi Carey! No, I don’t recommend it. The baking powder is initially activated once wet, so it’s best to bake the prepared batter right away.
I just made these tonight because I happen to have 3 bananas that I cant bear to toss. I did 1/2 with crumb topping and the other half with walnuts in the batter. These have got to be the tallest muffins I’ve ever made, and they’re tasty too! I did have to sub out the butter with avocado oil, and the milk with my vanilla protein shake – just using what I’ve got on hand at the moment!
Best recipe for banana muffins ever! I had never heard of starting at a high temp and reducing the heat. Brilliant! Thank you for sharing your baking gifts with us. I recommend adding mini chocolate chips. The blend of cinnamon, bananas, and chocolate is heavenly. God bless you, Sally!
These are delicious! Especially with chopped pecans. The batter is so thick and doesn’t rise a lot so I thought they would end up really dense, but they are light and very flavorful. Also, the tip about mashing the bananas using my stand mixer is genius!
Really, really good! I didn’t have any nutmeg so I increased the cinnamon a little. They’re the perfect texture – really buttery and just super yummy!
Honestly there’s sOoooo many banana bread/muffin recipes out there- it’s hard to find the perfect one- but THIS is it! I always come back to this one. It is so delicious, taste light and fluffy, & has a nice high and big muffin top thanks to your temperature trick!
These are absolutely delicious. I didn’t have nutmeg but had pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger) so used that. Never making banana bread again Thanks so much.
Just came out of the oven and they’re delicious! Will definitely be using this as my go-to! They had some nice height to them and were very light – not too dense at all.
I did not have baking powder on hand, but after a little internet digging, I found a substitute that I used:
1/2tsp white vinegar
1/4tsp baking soda
I never leave reviews but these were so easy and delicious! I made these with my 4 year old and the muffins came out wonderfully soft and moist with the perfect rise on them from your temperature trick.
Really good and easy recipe to follow, the muffins looks amazing and taste delicious
I was thinking about making your banana bread with my brown bananas, but I felt like muffins instead. I love this recipe and added both chopped walnuts and chocolate chips because the more the merrier :). Your recipes are always the best, thank you!
Wow, these were amazing! I actually had 4 extremely ripe bananas, so I used 3 1/2 mashed bananas, and these still turned out SO delicious! I love how soft and moist they are. I will definitely be using this recipe again. Thank you so much!
While we’re quarantining at home during the coronavirus pandemic, I’m trying to use up stuff that’s in my freezer so that I can avoid going to the grocery store as much as possible. Came across some old bananas and decided to make these. Thawed out 3 bananas and drained them really well. I added 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. The muffins came out just great! Very tasty.