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. 🙂
These were perfect! I threw some blueberries in the dry ingredients and even forgot to add the bananas (added them after I mixed wet and dry ingredients) and they were STILL awesome.
Delish. My house smells amazing and the whole family loves these
How can we get the nutrition information for your recipes?
I made a double batch of these with gluten free flour blend (Bob’s Red Mill) and they were amazing! My husband ate 4 of them while they were still sitting on the counter cooling.
My only complaint is that this is way (WAY!) more than 10 minutes of prep time. The whole thing took me 90+ minutes start to finish. But thankfully I was watching a virtual training at the same time so it worked out fine!
I’ve made this recipe twice with Splenda brown sugar mix. The first time, I used the same measure of 135g called for. This ended up too sweet.
I made it again, using only 100g, and it seemed to be perfect. I may try reducing it just a bit more, but worried it might affected the balance of dry vs wet.
Sally, thank you. This was the first recipe I tried from you . These muffins are amazing. I cannot wait to host a brunch. They will be one of the first things on my buffet…
Great muffins! I used white sugar (would use a little less next time) and I found they were done after about 12 minutes at 350 after taking the temp down. This could be my oven but I recommend checking a little early.
So good and super easy to make! My picky daughter who swore she didn’t like bananas ate one right up. Subbed a bit of applesauce for some of the brown sugar (1/3 cup) but it was still so yummy
I love this recipe. Delicious muffins on my first try. In place of 2/3 cup white sugar, I used 1/4 cup applesauce & 1/4 light brown sugar. I used 1/2 cup of arrowroot flour and 1 cup white flour.
I tried this recipe out using 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar and a 1/3 of a cup of molasses and they came out great! I also added 1/2 a teaspoon of cloves, some chopped walnuts, and an extra banana because I knew I wouldn’t use it for anything else and I didn’t have any issues
Love this recipe! Didn’t have nutmeg and used 5 bananas because they were very small (only took up about 1 cup) but we all loved the muffins! Next time I will probably use less sugar and add chocolate chips and see how it goes 🙂
This is the best banana muffins recipe. I added choc chips and left out muffins, yummy. Thank you
I’m a beginner in baking. Photos of the beautiful baked things intimidate me because always isn’t as pretty(I can even make “expectations vs reality” of my own baking adventures. But one morning I tried this recipe and Sally was right, it was soft moist, and smells divine. I was like, did I bake this? And it looks even prettier than Sally’s! Unbelievable, really.
OK – looking to fix a craving in a hurry and this was just the ticket!! I tweaked it a bit with substituting 40 grams of the whole wheat pastry flour for cocoa powder. I may have used a bit more banana – very liquidy – so didn’t add the milk, and wow were tender and moist! Oh, did I mention chips chips and more chips!! So very good and quick! Thank you!
I just made these at 5280. I added 3 tablespoons of all purpose white flour. I followed the recipe for the most part. I did substitute 2/3 cup pure maple syrup for sugar, and did half the butter and substituted melted coconut cooking oil for the other half. I also added a 1/2 cup each of finely chopped walnuts, and dark chocolate chips and unsweetened shredded coconut. They turned out perfectly.
I made this recipe twice and each time came out moist, soft and delicious. I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup as I don’t like my bake goods too sweet. Used soft pastry flour instead of AP flour. One time I added walnut, the next time I used 2 bananas and 1 cup of blue berries. The kitchen smelled great for hours after. Highly recommend this recipe.
Okay let me say… I’ve cooked alot of banana bread/ muffins recipes & this one takes the cake!! I was alittle worried when I seen how thick the batter was but the butter & milk came through! The muffins was soft , sweet & moist. The kids & hubby love them. Thanks Sally
I made this exactly as described. It is simply perfect. Soft, springy, moist and a lovely balance of flavors. I place a 1/2 walnut on top of each muffin and the toasted walnut flavor adds to the whole appeal for us.
Thank you for sharing Sally
I found this recipe after a few failed attempts at banana bread – for some reason, I can’t seem to get the top of the middle of the loaf cooked… Anyway, this is a FANTASTIC recipe. The cinnamon caused an “eyebrow raise” but it totally works! Thanks Sally!
This recipe worked out perfectly! I added about 1/4 of white sugar and an extra tablespoon of milk and the muffins came out delicious.
Very tasty! I added a touch more cinnamon and a little all spice too. One thing I would say, is that mine rose A LOT, so maybe don’t fill RIGHT to the top… mine were climbing out their cases. I’d say leave a good centimetre or two.
I have made these muffins multiple times since finding your recipe in March. Each time they have turned out awesome. I have made them with:
1. Chocolate chips (mmm…)
2. Walnuts
3. Walnuts and chocolate chips
4. White flour
5. Whole wheat flour
6. Pecans
7. Buttermilk
One of the times I forgot to turn the oven down to 350 . They were still pretty good.
Today I made them with pecans, whole wheat flour, and buttermilk ( I had some buttermilk that I needed to use up). They peaked nicely and were golden brown.
Thank you again for sharing the recipe. During this pandemic I find the smell of muffins baking very soothing.
I made this banana muffin recipe omitting the optional ingredients and they came out great and were really delicious. My family loved them! Now, this will always be my go-to recipe for banana muffins. Thanks Sally for sharing your recipe!!❤️
A fantastic recipe!
These are amazing!! I didn’t have cinnamon or brown sugar. But I looked up a substitute and used white sugar and added tablespoon of pure maple syrup! I didn’t melt butter all the way it was like had melted and half softened. But they turned out great!!! I cannot wait to make them again with the cinnamon and actual brown sugar!
I tried other banana muffins before but they didn’t look yummy and the texture was not good. This recipe was perfect!! I loved the flavor and how yummy and fluffy they were.
I couldn’t try the freezing because they disappeared in breakfast LOL
I now want to try the banana bread recipe 😛
THANK YOU!!
These muffins turned out so soft and fluffy on the inside, and lovely and crunchy on the top, such a treat, kids loved them too!
Most wonderful Banana Muffins!!!!
I just made these and I didn’t have walnuts but I had just enough chocolate chips. I never made them with chocolate chips and when I checked with my family, they were like – you can’t go wrong. They came up just delicious!! I ended up keeping them in the oven for 20 minutes instead of 16-18. Thank you so much!!
These muffins are JUST PERFECTION. I’ve tried other recipes but none have surmounted to the flavor that these have. The ingredients are simple and the recipe is easy to follow. They made my apartment smell so wonderful and I will continue to use this one and share it with others to enjoy a lovely treat in the morning. These muffins are the perfect thing to take as a snack during the day, and they aren’t heavy like other muffins can be. This is a definite bookmark!
These muffins are absolutely AMAZING! I’ve made about 3 batches of them already, and I have to pace myself on how many I eat a day. I recently made your Favorite Banana Bread recipe and that looked like a hit too! (I made it as a part of a bake sale, and it turned out beautifully and am just waiting to hear back on how it tastes) I need to make another banana bread, and unfortunately I used the last of my sour cream (and don’t have yogurt). I was wondering if I could adapt this recipe to a loaf, making it as directed and then cooking it according to the other recipe (350 for 60 min)?
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!
The recipe turned out great made into a loaf! It was definitely more dense than the other recipe – which I expected, and didn’t rise as high – which you warned. But all in all, the loaf looked great and when it got delivered I received a message back saying it was delicious!! I ended up baking it at 350ºF for 30 min, then covered it with foil so it didn’t brown too much and then baked it for another 25 min before taking it out.
Can I bake this at a cake pan with the same temperature? Thank you
Made the banana muffins today and they turned out perfect. Added chocolate chips and out of 12 muffins there are 4 left. Can’t wait for the next batch of bananas to ripen. Thank you for this easy recipe.
So good and easy !
I made this twice already, replacing nutmeg with coffee because it’s 2020 and sourcing ingredients is sometimes difficult, and it’s been amazing every time. This helped me save bananas ripening super fast in the heat and make a hearty breakfast muffin I love eating. Thank you so much! I’ve already shared the recipe with my friends because this is so easy and foolproof. Everyone’s been thankful so far.
So yummy! They’re perfect. Didn’t have any chocolate or nuts so slathered them in cream cheese.