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 this morning with whole wheat flour, dark chocolate chips and pecans and they turned out great! I shortened the cooking time by about 2 minutes since my oven tends to run hot. Great recipe!
I just made your banana muffin recipe with 1 cup of chocolate chips. They turned out perfect, moist and bakery-like inside. Even with 1 mistake of cooking them at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes instead of turning the temp down to 350 degrees, they were delicious! We will make these over and over again (and try turning the temp down and cook a little longer).
Hi Sally,
I’ve just made these amazing banana muffins and they taste delicious- I added oats & dates as I had lots left over that I wanted to use up.
I used one of your cookies recipe a few weeks back and they were also amazing!
Thanks for sharing
Turned out so spongey and super tasty! Very moreish!
Just made the muffins. They are terrific. So moist and perfect. Thanks for the recipe
I love using your recipes. I was hoping to use up some ripe bananas up today and thought I’d try your muffin recipe. Question…my husband and I are empty nesters now and so often my sweet goodies go to waste. I know many recipes will not turn out simply cutting the ingredients in half. Will this one or the banana bread work by cutting in half?
Hi Debra, halving both of these recipes should work just fine. For best results, however, we suggest making the full recipe and freezing extras for later – we include freezing instructions with all our recipes. Happy baking!
This recipe is so easy and the muffins are really tasty, they look like bought muffins. I wish my lemon muffin recipe came out as well as the banana ones. Any suggestions for lemon muffin recipe that will be as good as your banana recipe please?
Hi Julia, we sure do! See our one batter for infinite muffin recipes post — we have our favorite lemon poppyseed muffin there, and you can omit the poppyseeds if desired. We’d love to know if you give it a try.
Thanks for your prompt reply. I will definitely try the lemon muffin recipe and let you know what I think. Many thanks again.
I made these muffins with a whole wheat spelt flour and used less than 1/3 cup of maple syrup cause bananas already give lot of sweetness. Muffins came out a bit dry. Should I give more milk next time, as the whole wheat flour usually needs more liquid.
Hi Nelly, the whole wheat flour and less maple syrup are likely the culprits for your dry muffins. We haven’t tested it ourselves, but you can try adding more liquid to help with the dryness when using that substitute for all-purpose flour. Or, you might like our whole wheat banana bread recipe (you can make muffins out of this, too) instead.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe! We were looking for a recipe we can substitute GF All Purpose flour with and this worked amazingly! All my family members enjoyed them (those with Celiac and those without). This recipe is a keeper in our home!
if i could rate 6 stars, I WOULD! These were delicious! Don’t use a muffin tin and they look beautiful! BEST MUFFINS EVER
I made these for my family and they were almost gone within minutes. They are delicious and my family and I loved them. I added some chopped up blackberries and plan on using blueberries next time. Amazing Muffins!
I decided to try this recipe as I wanted a change from making banana bread. Muffins are moist and flavorful. Definitely hits the spot and not too sweet for my young kids. Sally, thank you for the recipe. It will be a go too. I have tried many of your recipes and your website is now my go to when I want to make a dessert.
Just had one of these. Hot out of the oven. My husband made with with my helpfor his fishing buddies in the morning.
We made the mini muffins and checked them at 12 minutes but they took about 16 minutes. We had 3 pans full though. I checked every 2 minutes. It is easy to over bake this small muffin and all ovens are different. We added mini chocolate chips and chopped walnuts . Wonderful, delicious recipe and I am not a crazy chocolate person.
I made these into 6 jumbo muffins. Used walnuts and studded the top with banana slices I had leftover. They were some of the prettiest muffins I have taken out of my oven. I had one this morning and the flavor was exactly what I want in a banana muffin. So easy to throw together, even without a mixer. Used my potato masher for the bananas and mixed everything else by hand. I knew you would have a great recipe, as always. Thanks!
I love these–even with some modifications to make them a little more healthful. (I know Sally also has a whole wheat & oats banana muffin, but I haven’t tried that because it makes 15 muffins, and I don’t want to deal with the extra batter.) I use white whole wheat flour. I also use canola oil instead of butter, and they are still delicious–I’ll bet they’re even better with butter. They are really moist and just delicious overall. Thank you!
This is the best banana muffin recipe so far, and I’ve tried a lot. They are a perfect texture and exceptionally moist, easy to make and look fabulous. I did bake a little less after turning the temperature down. As the daughter of a home ec teacher, I don’t give praise lightly. Great job! Ths is my new go-to recipe for a quick morning muffin.
Outstanding!! Looking forward to trying more of Sally’s recipes.
My first time making muffins from scratch. So easy! Your recipe is fantastic!
I do not like using all white flour and had no whole wheat so I used half white and rest oat flour and 1 tablespoon coconut flour. Used almond milk and 1 tablespoon less brown sugar.
They came out lovely moist delicious!
Thank you❤
These are the best. I’ve made them so many times and they are so flexible. I now use half the amount of sugar and they’re still sweet enough. Thank you!
Enjoyed by all.
These muffins are amazing!! They are moist and sooo good with chocolate chips in them. Thanks for recipe
Just made these for my daughter’s birthday breakfast. She has a dairy allergy so we made it with almond milk and vegan butter BUT I forgot to put the butter in the batter and they still turned out great! Will definitely be making again!
Great Banana Muffins. I added chocolate chips to the muffins and used 5 ripe bananas because that is what I had and I needed to use them. I had to add 5 additional minutes to the cooking time. Moist, flavorful and perfect. My daughter and I enjoyed them hot out of the oven!!
These are yummy! I subbed the milk for coconut milk, and the muffins still came out moist and delicious. They didn’t have a coconut flavour though, which was too bad for me!
Try coconut extract instead of vanilla…just a thought. I’ve used it in whip cream to boost the coconut flavor and it worked perfectly. Just be careful as some brands can be quite potent while others not so much. Can be purchased in a regular grocery store along side all the other extracts in the baking/spice aisle. Hope it works! Good luck!
These were a HUGE hit in my house! Even my preschooler who hates bananas loved them! I was out of milk, but when I saw it only calls for 2 tbsp I decided to try using some almond milk I had on hand. I did half mini and half regular muffins, both turned out great. I did have to reduce the baking time though, might be because I used silicone pans in a gas oven? I did the 5 mins at 450 for the regular muffins and put the mini ones in with only 2 mins left. Then I turned the oven down to 350 and set the timer for 10 mins thinking I’d only be taking out the mini muffins, but both pans were perfect and ready! They sat in the pans another 5 mins while I scrambled some eggs and then they popped right out and were absolutely delish!
They came out so perfectly. So soft and moist, I felt like my mouth was in heaven, thank you so much Sally!
Hi Sally, made these the other day and it was delicious! I want to make them again but I only have superfine/cake flour. Will that work?
Thanks!
Hi Belle, we’re so happy to hear you enjoyed these muffins! We fear cake flour would be much too light for these muffins with the added weight of the banana. They would likely be flimsy and you’d have a hard time taking them out of the wrapper. Best to stick with all-purpose flour here!
Oh ok, thank you!
Will these muffins still be good without vanilla extract?
Hi Carri! Yes, they will still be delicious, just missing the lovely warm vanilla taste. Enjoy!
Looked for something a little different about a month ago, came across this recipe, and decided to give them a try, using Splenda brown sugar. We’ve made 2 batches since then, sharing with friends, and everyone absolutely loves them, delicious!
Made these muffins this morning….Absolutely delicious so moist added some walnuts,but will try chocolate chips next time. Definitely a keeper.