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. 🙂
Do you think you could make jumbo muffins with this batter? If so, how many do you think it would make?
Thanks!
Hi Annacie! If using a jumbo muffin pan, we recommend following the same baking times as these jumbo blueberry muffins. (With the initial high temperature trick.) It should yield about 5 jumbo muffins – fill batter to the top.
I’ve never thought I was any good at baking but at the age of 48 I’ve started trying again. This recipe gives me hope! These are the best muffins I’ve ever made, sooo moist and delicious. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Made these this morning for my very picky six year old. He loved them! Sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar before baking. Definitely will make these again! Thank you for an easy recipe!
I accidentally left out the milk…will this be a big problem? In the oven already!
They may be a little dry, but let us know how they turn out!
They were still really good, considering! I had a little extra batter so I added milk to that and made a mini cake which was lighter than the muffins in texture. The muffins were still very good just a little heavier in texture if that makes sense. Delicious!
Thank you for this recipe. My children all seemed to love these muffins. I used whole wheat flour and soggy defrosted bananas … I opted for melted butter and used all the sugar you suggested. Next time, I’ll use way less sugar. They were way too sweet for me. But, that could be me. 🙂
Discovered this recipe yesterday when searching for something easy to make with two very old bananas. The recipe was SO easy to mix up and results were delicious! We only had two bananas, so that’s what we used. I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose. I also tossed 1/2 cup of dried cranberries into the flour mixture. They turned out wonderfully! In fact, they were gone by the morning, so I made another batch, this time with pear puree to use up some of those, too. I added a couple of sprinkles of ginger and cranberries again, but otherwise left the recipe the same. So good!
Excellent recipe. I used coconut milk in place of butter and added cranberries and almond flakes! Thank you for sharing!!!! So flavourful!!!!
These turned out great! In an effort to make them less carb heavy I used half almond flour and half unbleached white flour. I also used monk fruit sweetener in lieu of sugar. I threw in a handful of chopped walnuts as well.
I accidentally forgot the milk which ended up working out just fine.
Mine could have used a couple more minutes in the oven. The outside was perfectly browned but they were a tad gooey towards the bottom. This didn’t stop us from gobbling them up. I will make again.
Excellent, soft, sugar was just right.
I added chunks of ginger preserve – turned out well.
This was the best banana nut muffins recipe.. The texture is very light and they taste delicious. Will definitely make again. Thanks for a great recipe!!
My go-to Banana Muffin recipe from now on. I loved how light it tasted compared to the denser Banana Bread I’ve been making.
Lovely !!! Will make again for sure.
Only thing I found though, it only filled 10 cup cake cases. And not to top of the lined cases. They were more like a cup cake than a muffin. Not sure why. I followed the recipe to the letter.
Any advice? Why?
I made these this morning and they were in the oven before I realized I forgot the butter. They baked fine. They are a little light in weight, but tasty.
DELICIOUS MUFFINS
These muffins are moist, soft and healthy. Great recipe to bake when you want to prepare something quick! Perfect for breakfasts or snacks!
Thanks Sally
Stay safe and well!
Can you substitute almond milk for normal milk?
Hi Alicia, absolutely — you can use your favorite variety of dairy or nondairy milk.
Yes you can!!
I am vegan and I wondered the same thing! You can use almond, coconut or soy milk. In my opinion almond works best.
Delicious!!! The texture is perfect and the flavour delicious. Thank you soooooo much!
Wow this was very good, I added crushed pecans and the taste was amazing!
Wow this was very good, I added crushed pecans and the taste was amazing, it was also moist but it could be moister. I will have to adjust something?
Hi Donna!
Sorry to hear that your muffins weren’t very moist. Yogurt works REALLY well. You shouldn’t add too much otherwise your muffins might burn and be left uncooled in the middle (which is the last thing we want lol) I would add about 1-2 tbs of yogurt!
Hope this works well for you!
Stay safe and well
Lexi
Lovely muffins. Really helpful to have cup measurement for mashed banana as mine were on the small side. They rose beautifully and texture is fab! Thank you
Made this yesterday to use up my over-ripe brownies. Best banana muffins I’ve tasted in a long time! Thanks so much 🙂
Just finished baking these a few minutes ago and WOW. The aroma from my oven was heavenly. These muffins are insanely moist and the crunch from the walnuts was delightful. Not only was this recipe delicious, but a great way to use up some very over-ripe bananas. Needless to say, my boyfriend was pleased. Thanks!
Tried this banana muffin recipe 2 days ago and they are the best moist banana cupcakes I’ve ever had! 2 days later and they are still moist and fresh. Simply the best!
Great recipe. I just baked two batches today . I cut the sugar in half because the bananas already sweet enough for me. One batch I added one more egg and omitted the milk . The second batch I added 2 Tbs yogurt instead of milk. Both ways turned out very good. The ones with yogurt are more moist . The ones with extra egg have firmer texture and . The flavor is spot on. I love that more bananas in this recipe comparing to other recipes. I suggest that mash the bananas and measure to one and a half cup . Because bananas come in different sizes. I ended up using 7 bananas to make two batches. My family love them so much. Will make it again. The best banana muffins. Recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your great recipe.
I’ve made so many banana muffins in my day, and this recipe has to be one of the best. My daughter and I are both blown away at how velvety they are. Bravo — this will be my go-to from now on!
Made these muffins for my hubby for Valentine’s Day. ❤️ They turned out so yummy. My hubby could taste the TLC that went to making them. Homemade is so much better than store bought. Thank you for providing such a delicious recipe.
Easy to make into a plant based recipe. I used half unsweetened applesauce 1/2 vegan butter instead of the 6 tablespoons of butter. Also used flax egg and cashew milk. Delicious!
I use all these ingredients but put all the wer stuff in one bowl, all the dried stuff in another, squash all the wet ingredients just using a fork or fiid masher, gradually add the dried ingredients bit more milk if needed, the quickest, easiest bun mixer ever and so delicious thank you
Made these but I didn’t put in 2/3 sugar but a little less as the bananas I had were extremely sweet. Overall muffins came out so well and were moist and light. Definitely keeping this recipe as one of my favorite banana muffins.
Love this recipe so much! As is, they are already delicious, though I found the salt to be a little strong. I made some small tweaks after my first run: adding a half teaspoon of almond extract, upping the nutmeg and cinnamon, using oat milk instead of regular and using a little less salt. With chocolate chips or tart berries mixed in, these muffins are truly UNSTOPPABLE. Thank you!!
Have you tried adding pumpkin purée to this recipe? If so, how should I adjust the rest of the ingredients? The recipe is amazing as is, I just have leftover pumpkin to use.
Hi Ai-vy, we haven’t tested it so let us know if you do. Pure pumpkin puree usually acts the same as mashed banana in recipes. I would test it as a 1:1 sub.