These banana muffins are soft, buttery, and spiced with cinnamon. They’re wonderful plain, with chopped walnuts, or even chocolate chips. You need 3 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, Noelle, 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 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: These guys lend most of the flavor.
- Egg: 1 egg gives the muffins structure.
- 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.
This banana muffin recipe is perfect if you:
- have 3 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.)
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
- Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins (these include oats)
- Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Zucchini 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 1x
- 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 (spoon & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 large ripe bananas (about 1 and 1/2 cups mashed)*
- 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 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 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.
- 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 thawed frozen bananas in this muffin recipe. Thawed frozen bananas are extra wet, so blot them with a paper towel to rid some excess liquid.
- 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. 🙂
Keywords: banana muffins
Reader Questions and Reviews
Leave a Review!
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Best banana muffin recipe ever! My family really enjoyed theses muffins even told me it was the best they ever had. So moist and fluffy very delicious.
★★★★★
These were SO easy..a 5 star with the family..thank you.
★★★★★
Fantastic recipe! I always want more banana, so I upped it to 4, and they were amazing. Also, made a batch with a 1 to 1 gluten free flour for my daughter, and they turned out great as well! Added chocolate chips, of course. This recipe will get a lot of use in my house!
★★★★★
I made these banana muffins today. Super easy and delicious. I used pecans. Definitely will make these again!
★★★★★
These are great! I was pointed to this recipe when I was looking for a banana-blueberry muffin. I added 1 cup of blueberries in place of the optional nuts/chocolate chips. My husband and all three kids loved them!
★★★★★
I’ve learned so much from you Sally. Thank you for all you do to help me bring awesome baked goods to my family and friends. The banana muffins have a nice round top and a delicious texture. I love all your muffin recipes, pumpkin is my all time favorite. Blueberry a close second❤️
★★★★★
Just made these muffins so easy to make and they are delicious thank you
★★★★★
Hi Sally!
I have recently discovered your channel and to be honest your youtube cover pages attract me the most and so do your recipes .
I just wanted to ask if I could skip the nutmegs as I have really really over ripe bananas in my fridge and I wanna use them up as fast as possible so if I could skip the nutmeg.
I wanna make these for my family tomorrow.
Well I am just 14 and I love baking
Thank you !!!
Marium
Hi Marium, you can leave out the nutmeg without any other changes. Enjoy!
Great muffins.made many times. This time I don’t have enough butter. Can I use olive oil instead or applesauce?
Karen
Hi Karen, you can use the same amount of vegetable/canola oil (olive oil works as well but will leave a slight after taste) or applesauce, but they may taste a bit rubbery. We love the taste from using all-butter here, so you will lose a bit of flavor with the swap, too. Let us know if you try!
I have made these a few times and don’t think I will ever use another banana muffin recipe. We use GF flour blend and flax egg as subs, and reduce sugar slightly, but they still turn out perfectly every time. SO GOOD. And so easy. This recipe is a winner for sure.
★★★★★
Mine are in the oven about half way done and I just realized I forgot the brown sugar. Ooops. I will let you know the kid reviews for sugar free banana muffins. 🙁
I loved this recipe. Ingredients are the ones that are readily available. My two year old son just love this recipe. I always make it with wheat flour and they turn out sooo yummmm.
★★★★★
I love this recipe….. love all your recipes
Thank you. I use a regular oven at home. I would love to bake a batch at work as a snack to eat
I was wondering if the time and temperature would change if I use those types of ovens with a fan in the back( the ones they use at restaurants)
★★★★★
Hi Mickey! All of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. 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 settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
OK, so I am the woman who forgot the sugar. Actually, the muffins were not bad, a little dry and not sweet but the banana adds some sweetness. Don’t forget the sugar. Otherwise I think they would be fabulous.
I was making these this morning before my husband left for work. He stayed an extra 5 min to get two fresh from the oven. They smell and look delicious. I will try one once they cool. They rose up beautiful!
Best banana muffins I have made. I used part whole wheat flour and substituted olive oil and honey but they were still delicious.
This has been my 100% go to recipe the past year. They are just perfect as they are. With an infant and toddler I love how quick they are to whip up, kiddos always love them, and they tolerate substitutions so well when I’ve needed to do that for allergies or preferences (flax egg, apple sauce for oil, and 1/3 of the flour as almond flour)
★★★★★
Did not like this recipe. They were dry and grainy.
I looked up this recipe because I had one very old banana that I wanted to use up. I made up the difference with about 1/2 cup of shredded carrot and some shredded and squeezed apple. I upped the sugar a little bit after I tasted the batter, and they came out tasting great. Thank you for the recipe!!!
★★★★★