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
Perfect!!
This was the best banana muffin recipe have come across in a long time. It was amazing
Love the recipe, but I’ll have to double it next time. As it only yielded 8 muffins…not enough when you have 3 boys in the house!
So fluffy, so delicious, they turned out so amazing. This is my first time making this recipe and I’ll definitely make it again, and again.
My wife just made these with chocolate chips instead of nuts and used Splenda sugars.
She made mini muffins and baked them until the toothpick came out clean.
They are excellent!
Denver Co- Banana muffins per recipe with Excellent results. No high altitude adjustments with ingredients. Bake time at 350 needed 16-17 min.
This is the best banana muffin recipe ever! We make it so often, and we have been for years now. It’s simple and quick, and tastes delicious! Love these!
This the best banana muffin recipe! We make it so often, and we still haven’t gotten sick of it after how many years. Love!
Great recipe!
Thanks so much for sharing it!
I would love to make this tomorrow morning but I don’t have liners – can I make it exactly as written directly in the muffin tray with some oil spray?
Hi Rika, sure can!
Fantastic. My first try at any muffin.
I started baking when Covid landed and I search for recipes by Sally. No need to look further.
I was planning on the banana bread but my wife ate a banana lol.
Thanks for steering me in the right direction with baking.
This may be my second review! I love these muffins so much. They are such a hit with my family and have been for years. My daughter is dairy free, so we use the recommended substitute of coconut oil and almond milk. I’ve even forgotten the almond milk and they are still amazing! Whenever I’m in the mood to bake, Sally’s site is always my first stop to pick a recipe.
The flavor is okay but the texture is super strange. I also would eliminate the nutmeg.
Love this recipe, I was hopeless at baking before I found your website! I was hoping to make it again and add protein powder to make the most out of the calories. Any tips on how I would need to tweak the recipe or do you have any other protein muffin recipes?
Hi Brianna, we haven’t tested this recipe with protein powder, but you can certainly try adding a small amount. Keep in mind that it is a dry ingredient, so you may want to slightly tinker with the amount of flour. Let us know if you do any experimenting!
Can I substitute sugar with applesauce? If so how much of it should I add? TIA Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Lakshmi, sugar plays an important role in the overall taste, texture, and structure of baked goods. We don’t recommend swapping it with applesauce in this recipe. For a “healthier” option, you might like these recipes for whole wheat banana muffins or whole wheat banana bread.
Lovely, easy to make, and instructions were perfect. Thank you!
I made these and put a little dab of Nutella on top and swirled it with a skewer. I realized after baking that I only put in 1/3 cup of brown sugar but that amount was perfect for our family. They were delicious. The grandkids loved them.
Any issue doubling the recipe?
Hi Lyssa, for best results and to prevent over mixing, we recommend making two separate batches.
Absolutely amazing. I would not change a thing
What are the baking instructions for making these as mini muffins?
Hi Kristin, 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!
The batter came out runnier than I expected by description (my bananas were getting ready to go to trash tho and I added a little less sugar, because they got really sweet) and I was expecting muffins not turning out ok, but they are great! I baked 5 minutes longer than prescribed due to batter consistency.
Also, substituted cinnamon and nutmeg for 1.5 teaspoons of gingerbread mix, because that’s the only thing I had containing nutmeg (and it also contains cinnamon).
Made for a bake sale… Delicious.
Hi!
I am trying to use honey instead of sugar. Is there any way I can do that with this recipe? I know I may need to alter a few ingredient me
thanks for letting me! 🙂 Lynne
Hi Lynne, see the recipe notes for sugar substitutes. 2/3 cup of honey should work great!
This recipe was perfect, light, moist and delicious. Added blueberries and a couple chocolate chips on top! Yum
This is such a fantastic recipe. I used half whole wheat einkorn and half AP einkorn flour by volume since I like the extra texture. Instead of adding the walnuts in the mix, I topped the muffins before baking them so the walnuts would get nice and toasted, almost like a streusel. I didn’t have enough bananas so I used the full amount of sugar, but if I had more bananas I would probably cut back on the sugar. Thank you Sally!
I’ve tried several different banana bread recipes and it always ends up heavy and slightly stodgy in the middle. This was amazing they are so light and fluffy, thank you.
I love to bake these yummy muffins for my grandson! Can I freeze this banana muffin batter before baking? If so, can I still use paper liners, or should I use foil instead? Thanks in advance!
Hi Donna, we don’t recommend freezing and then thawing batter—the muffins won’t bake up quite the same. The baked and cooled muffins do freeze wonderfully, though, for up to 3 months.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, Lexi! I don’t think I’m made my question clear. I was wondering if I can freeze the batter and bake them from frozen?
Hi Donna, sorry for the confusion! We don’t recommend baking batter from frozen either.
Love these muffins and have made then many times! Just wondering if Blueberries could be added to this recipe.
Hi Nicole, you certainly could add a cup of blueberries to the batter with no other changes. Enjoy!
These are the best muffins ever and I’ve been eating banana nut bread/muffins for 50 years! I did use a half a cup at walnuts a half a cup of chocolate chips. My whole family loves this recipe!
Turn out perfect every time!
I love all your recipes ❤️