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
I made these Banana muffins this morning and they are delicious!! Made 1 dozen .❤️
Really excellent. Made with 1/2 mini chocolate chips and 1/2 cup walnuts for the mix ins. I added more walnut chunks on top with sparkling sugar crystals.
Rose nice and high in the oven with a beautiful domed shape. Wonderful texture and held well not refrigerated for several days until they were all eaten.
I find the muffin end up dry if you bake them first 5 min at 425. I preheat to 425 and change the temp once I put the muffins in.
Made these today with the addition of finely chopped apple. Really good! I always know I can trust one of Sally’s recipes to come out perfectly every time.
Love these muffins! I made a tripe batch and have leftover ‘dough’. Can I store the dough in the fridge and bake tomorrow or later in the day? If that’s not ok then:
How long would the dough be good left on the counter?
Hi Liz, we do not recommend refrigerating the batter overnight. The leaveners are activated once mixed with the wet ingredients, so its best to bake the batter soon thereafter. You can leave the batter at room temperature while waiting for a current batch to finish baking through.
I’ve made these twice and everyone at home enjoys them. They are simple and bake up lovely.
I used the 1.5 cups of flour and the batter was super runny. Ended up using 2.5 cups
I LOVE this recipe and have probably made it a dozen times. Do you have approx bake time for mini muffins?
Hi Lisa, for mini muffins, bake 12–14 total minutes at 350°F (177°C). Hope they’re a hit!
This one is definitely a keeper, was looking for a new recipe and happy I stumbled on this! I did the half coconut sugar, half cane sugar suggestion and it was delicious. Just the right amount of sweetness. Oh and added chocolate chips of course. My kids gobbled these up!
I have baked your banana bread recipe about six times since I recently purchased your wonderful book. Sometimes I add blueberries, which is my husband’s favorite. I like it with maraschino cherries and chocolate chips for the holidays.
My grandson and I really enjoyed making this recipe together… a new holiday tradition… he n sister on decorating the top with holiday sugar sprinkles
Great recipe! Turned out perfect! Thank you for sharing it!
Made these muffins yesterday and it came out so so lovely! Decreased the sugar for my preference.
Hi, I’m about 70g shy on the bananas… could I use applesauce or full-fat sour cream to make up the difference? Or will they be ok with a little less banana…?
Hi Shannon! You could add applesauce or sour cream to make up the difference.
Hello,
I’m also a bit short on bananas.
What else could I add to make up the difference?
I used Kamut flour, olive oil & no sugar. I added chopped prunes & raisins. The muffins were delicious & sweet enough.
These are quick, easy and delicious! I substituted oat flour for the all purpose flour and maple syrup instead of brown sugar. They turned out perfect!!
I made your recipe and follow the instructions to a tea except I added about 3/4 of a cup of organic blueberries as well as the walnuts. I put them in the oven for 16 minutes and they look beautiful. After they cooled, I decided to make a cup of tea so I could try one. I opened the microwave door and noticed that I never put the butter in the batter. I was so upset. I decided to try one anyway, and they are outstanding! The best Bananas, blueberry walnut muffins I have ever eaten in my life. Kudos to you for an excellent recipe, but I did save 612 cal by omitting the butter. I can imagine what they taste like with the butter if they were this delicious without it thank you for a great recipe
Turned out great! Thank you!
This is my new favorite banana muffin recipe. Baking at the high heat creates a crunch on the outside & soft muffin on the inside. I added pecans to all & chocolate chips to half. Excellent banana taste. Will be making again as they were gone in minutes.
The high rating on this recipe is well deserved. I’ve made these muffins several times exactly as written (with chocolate chips) and they turn out perfectly. I get compliments on how flavorful and moist they are every time. My only (small) gripe is that I can barely get 9-10 muffins out of the recipe and they go so fast!
Hello there!
They came out perfect!! I used only whole wheat flour, margarine instead of butter, and date-paste instead of sugar. I usually put some extra date-paste when replacing sugar, so here I put 150grams. They came out fluffy and soft, and not too sweet. I also did a pumpkin spice twist, adding some ground clove, ginger, allspice and pepper!
Love the result
I followed the recipe exactly as written (added 1 cup of chopped walnuts). These came out perfect! So moist and perfectly sweet…sooo good! I will be using this recipe for all of my overripe bananas in the future!
Had some bananas that were getting too ripe so I made these. Quite good.
These are a huge hit in my house. Always gone in a few days. I find using a food scale turns up better results and I follow recipe to a T. These are great with the chocolate chips!
I loved the results of this recipe! I did do a little adjustments, replacing half of the sugar with chopped dates, and half of the butter with coconut oil. Added some crushed macadamia nuts too. Delightful!
Worked well with gluten free flour and extra half tsp ofBP
New favourite banana muffin recipe! Love the addition of the cinnamon and nutmeg. They baked up perfectly. Thanks for sharing!
I have been making this recipe for several years and it truly is the best banana muffin recipe I have ever come across. The only quibble I have with the recipe as written is that 10 minutes prep time seems unrealistic unless you have a prep kitchen where everything is immediately within reach. It typically takes me 20 minutes to pull together and get in the oven.
One of the things I especially like is that it uses melted butter so I don’t have to plan ahead to soften my butter. I use unsalted butter, light brown sugar, and regular milk and add 1 cup of Ghiradelli 60% dark chocolate chips. If I use 4 bananas instead of 3, the muffins are particularly dense and rich. I once forgot to add sugar and they were still pretty good. I have yet to try freezing them because I rarely have leftovers!
Made these for breakfast this morning. They were perfect. Followed directions except I subbed the peanut oil for the butter. They were so tender and tasty. They will be in regular rotation now.
I have an oven that allows for convection bake. Do I need to change anything in the recipe to use this functionality in my oven?
Hi Gina, We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
Hi, these were amazing! I made them last night and we loved them — even my son who hates bananas ate them! Just a quick question: can I add chopped dates instead of sugar? Thanks xx
Hi HF, so glad you loved them! We haven’t tested these with dates instead of sugar, but expect the results will be different. Let us know if you try something!