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. 🙂
Wow!! First time making banana muffins and these came out PERFECT!! So moist and packed with flavor!
These are great!
These were amazing! I added chocolate chips and they ended up making about 16 muffins. This will be my new go-to banana muffin recipe 🙂
These are the best banana muffins I’ve ever made!! So soft, fluffy and delicious! Thank you for this amazing recipe-it will be the only one I use from now on.
These are delicious! I added some chopped strawberries tossed in a little flour and the results were fab.
Thank you! I’m a newbie when it comes to baking, and these were very easy AND delicious
I also really appreciated your detailed instructions!
I used 4 smaller totally black bananas – didn’t even need a mixer to mash them, and added walnuts.
Baked at 400 (my oven is barely working) for 5m and at 350 for ~15m.
I wonder if orange zest will go well in these muffins?
Hi Nina, we’re so glad you enjoyed these muffins! A bit of orange zest (we’d recommend starting at around 1/2 teaspoon-1 teaspoon and then adjust for taste in future batches) would be delicious here. Let us know what you try!
Do you still have to do the initial burst of 450 degrees if you bake these in a convection oven?
Hi Holli, yes, we do recommend it. However, all of the recipes here are written for conventional settings. The rule of thumb when baking with convection/fan settings is to lower your oven by 25 degrees F. The bake time may still be shorter so begin checking before the recommended bake time. Hope this helps!
Lovely recipe
Thank you
Soft fluffy muffins. Delicious.
I made these for my girls, can’t stop eating them myself!!
My boys request these muffins at least once a week. Add chocolate chips and everyone loves!
Made a double batch of these last night, omitting the cinnamon and nutmeg. Taste was great and muffins were moist, but baking time and/or temp is way off. I followed the directions and blasted them at the high temp for 5 minutes first, then lowered down the temp and set the time for 15 instead of the recommended 16-18. I thought it smelled like something was burning so I checked them and took them out after 13 minutes, I now have two dozen very burnt banana walnut and chocolate chip muffins. So disappointing. I want to try the recipe again but not sure if I should just ditch the 5 minutes at high temp or decrease the lower temp baking time further.
It’s your oven, not the recipe. I just made them for the first time without adjusting any of the bake times or temps and they came out perfect.
I am glad I used this recipe. They came out perfect. The batter made the perfect exact amount for 12 muffins. I used all brown sugar, as I love brown sugar. I sprinkled some pecans on top as well as mixed pecans and walnut pieces in the batter. I did end up using salted butter and just added less actual salt than the recipe called for. I would say I added 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and they are taste perfectly fine! Best muffins I have ever made.
I’ve made these many times. They come out perfect every time and my coworkers are always asking me to make them again. Very easy and delicious.
I made it as a cake and it turned out to be super soft and yummyyyyyyyy. I replaced refine flour by wheat flour. I was ver happy with the result
Love these for my toddler and myself! Added a small amount of wheat germ too:)
These are amazing! I made it for the first time yesterday because I had a bunch of overly ripe bananas, and it came out so moist and soft. I think this would be great for breakfast too. Will definitely make these again!
Made a double batch of these tonight as I had 6 VERY ripe bananas and they turned out great! I am freezing some in individual ziplocks as it’s too many even after giving half away. I hope to enjoy them in days to come as well! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Delicious! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour and these turned out great. For some reason my temperamental oven only needed about 11 minutes of bake time after the initial 5 minutes, so I’d keep an eye out for that.
Short on bananas added 3/4 cup fresh blueberries. Suggested recipe time great. Neighbors❤️ Muffins.
I made these with my daughters, they turned out perfect!!! And they taste great : omitted the nutmeg and still turned out great!! Thank you for this awesome recipe.
I literally buy bananas at this point and let them get super ripe to make these muffins. This recipe is SO good.
I really liked making these! My husband said the only thing wrong with them was that we didn’t have enough of them.
These are the best muffins I have ever made and eaten. I followed the recipe step by step and they were so good. First time making homemade muffins. Thanks for sharing.
I added blueberries and they were great.
If i want to make a big batch of these do i have to double all measurements? Muffins are soooo goood!!
I had a craving for muffins and found this…then discovered I donated my muffin tin which was easily remedied with a big box store visit. Super easy and yummy! My mother in law will adore these, especially with chocolate chips. I know these will be my go to muffin. Thank you
Sally does it again! I love all of the healthy swaps given as options in this recipe. I made these with the coconut oil and coconut sugar replacements and my toddler loves them!
Hi,
These are amazing, I was wondering how long the batter lasts? Can I keep it a day in the frigde?
We loved these muffins they’re so light and fluffy restaurant quality I think I may have been a bit heavy handed with the baking soda as I could slightly taste it my error but no one else commented they loved them too
Thankyou for a great recipe
Tried them today for the first time…
Soft and yummy!
Got a big tick of approval from my elder kid, who is hard to please.
I made these muffins and everybody liked them. Fluffy, moist, nice high rise. As per previous comments, I also used half AP flour and half white whole wheat.
Also, I only had 2 bananas, so I made up the difference with applesauce.
My only caveat is that 1 cup of chocolate chips is a bit much, next time will go with 1/2 a cup. But there will definitely be a next time.