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
Does cooking any muffins at a higher initial temperature result in taller muffins? Mine have always been almost flat lol. These rose!
It does! This initial hot burst of air lifts the muffins straight up, creating a solid dome. The rest of the time at a normal baking temperature cooks the center of the muffin.
I made this without the vanilla extract (because I ran out) and used calling almond milk instead and it came out great! This time though I only have bread flour (because I ran out of all purpose flour ♀️). Would it still be the same with bread flour?
Hi Leanne! We don’t recommend bread flour for muffins. It has a higher protein content which would lead to chewy muffins. Best to stick with all-purpose!
This is the recipe to KEEP! I’ve had a lot…. a lot… of banana muffins! Many were terrible but this recipe is truly DELICIOUS! The texture is right, the flavors are right, they are the best, and I’m fairly picky about baked goods. If they are not good, don’t waste your time and money making them. You can trust this recipe. Although I baked them at 350 because my new oven seems to be baking too hot, they were still perfect.
These came out great, I needed to use up the banana I had stored up in the freezer. They weren’t too sweet and had a great flavor, the banana wasn’t too overpowering and the spices were just right. They were fluffy, moist, and everyone at home and work thought they were fantastic.
I have everything I need except vanilla extract, is there anything I can use to replace that or, if it’s possible, not use it at all?
Hi Leanne! You can leave it out in a pinch. Enjoy!
Love this recipe have used it so many times!
Was just wondering if this could also be baked as one large loaf in a loaf tin? How much do you think I would need to adjust cooking time by?
Hi Erica, for a loaf, we’d recommend following our banana bread recipe instead!
I love this recipe and it is my go to! I’m concerned that the bake time for mini muffins is too much… after 425 for 5 minutes, I think the muffins should be cooked for a maximum of 8-9 minutes or they will overbake! Glad o caught mine before they were too late!
Hi Tami! For mini muffins, bake 12-14 total minutes at 350°F (177°C) without the 5 minutes at 425°F. Just 12-14 minutes at 350°F!
These are SO delicious. For some reason, I only got 9 muffins filling all the way to the top of the cups. Perhaps if I’d only filled 2/3 of the way, I’d have gotten 12. They’re so, so good, I only wish I had more!
Did this recipe for 24 mini muffins in silicone cups, and had a bit extra, so I made a few normal sized ones! They are SOOOOOOOO moist and delicious and honestly, the best I’ve had! Excited to see how they taste after a few days still. I don’t know what they taste like without chocolate chips, but I can tell it would still taste good. (: maybe you could figure out timing for a jumbo muffin? (; thank you for this recipe! Saving it for sure.
The batter is thivk and beautiful and smells amazing!
Where do I find the nutrition information?
Hi Stephanie, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
These were really yummy…..I added the chocolate chips 🙂
I used browned butter and added some chopped dark chocolate (175 grams) and these turned out amazing!!
This recipe is amazing! The comments are right, it’s super flexible and you can do it with kids no issue.
I doubled the recipe, used half coconut sugar & half brown sugar, used spelt flour, changed the cinnamon & nutmeg to allspice and added nuts & chocolate chips (in the doubled recipe I did half a cup of each with a couple put on top of each muffin). My helper was a not very accurate 3 year old and aside from the missing chocolate chips you’d never know!
Honestly delicious. I’d describe the recipe as a recipe for people who don’t bake as it was so easy (even supervising a small human and translating the instructions into Spanish for her).
JUST TOOK them out of the oven ,smells so good and look perfect . can’t wait to dig in .Thank you
I loved the recipe so much, I made a second batch, easy to follow and they are so tasty, thanks for sharing!
Love this recipe so much!! Made it several times! I found a similar pumpkin muffin recipe that was nowhere near as good so I modified this one and added 3/4 cup of pumpkin in place of one of the bananas and an extra teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and the end result was AMAZING!!!
Better than any banana muffin I’ve made!! I did, however, add 1/2 cup of light sour cream to moisten a little more!
-cb
Oh and I challenge myself to clean up in the 5 minutes at 425 and am always successful so easy cleanup too!
I have literally made this recipe dozens of times. I have made it exactly as written using the proper techniques and with preschoolers whose measurements and pouring are quite imprecise. I have used all white flour, half white half whole wheat, and all spelt flour. I’ve used brown sugar, coconut sugar, cane sugar, and mixes of all. I’ve used all types of milk and even no milk. I’ve used coconut oil or butter. I almost always add more cinnamon. The only thing I noticed was that 1 cup of chocolate chips was way too much so if I do add them, I use a scant half cup of mini chips. These are delicious and very forgiving. We love them and make them almost weekly!
So thrilled to hear that you love these muffins, Allison! Thank you so much for making this recipe.
Really easy and tasty..
Forgot to add sugar altogether but they still taste amazing !
My go-to recipe! Today I made them and forgot the egg and somehow they still came out great.
Can these muffins be made with a crumb topping? I love this recipe- made many times. Just wondering if they would bake okay if that was added?
Hi Jill, sure can! You can follow the streusel from our blueberry streusel muffins or your favorite streusel recipe.
Made these three times now (tonight will be the fourth). They are absolutely delicious! I even accidentally left them in too long and burnt them once and they still tasted great. Lovely muffins.
This is the best recipe I have found for banana muffins. They are very moist. This is a recipe I would use if I was going to open a bakery, they are that good.
Thanks for an easy recipe that never fails! Can I add sweetened coconut?
Hi KD, sure can! You can use 1 cup of shredded coconut as an add-in.
I haven’t tried it yet but looking at the comments they sound delicios
Best recipe for banana muffin! So simple and delicious, just trying it out with walnuts and chocolate chips. My daughter will be delighted to have this after school! Thanks for a great recipe xx
Delicious! These muffins are fluffy and flavorful and I will definitely be using this recipe again!
My little granddaughters and I made these muffins everyone loved them !! Will definitely make them again !
Hi, I love these muffins (I sub whole wheat flour). Can this recipe be used as banana bread as well? Thanks
Works great for banana bread too, cooking time longer though
I love this recipe, turned out delicious.
What are the calories.
Love these muffins with golden raisins.
Calculated whole batch into 12 muffins, no extras. 172 cal. 29.7 carb, 5.5 fat, 2.2 protein
Thank you. Helpful fr my son whose a type 1 diabetic. 🙂
They’ve come out amazing! Bookmarking this recipe!
I made these muffins twice and they are the best ever my family loves them and said I need to sell them. lol
I’ve been making these every week for a couple years – thanks for this fantastic recipe!