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 love this- but mine came out a little dry…. What else can I do for next time
Hi Nikki, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can dry out the muffins—as can over baking them. For next time you can try reducing the bake time for a minute or two, but be sure to use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Yummy. Made with half whole wheat flour and add walnuts and blueberries. Made 12 muffins, and my calculations put them at ~180 calories each. Great for a snack.
These are soooo good. Light and tender and buttery. My husband loves them. They are indeed easy to make.
These muffins are the perfect texture, taste and rise. I am a lazy baker and just threw the wet ingredients one by one into the dry and mixed. I had blueberries on hand and folded those in. I usually use a mix and add ripe bananas but this is so easy! I should have followed the wet to dry process better but again it didn’t seem to matter. I hope to make my own bags of dry muffin mix and then can simply add the egg, vanilla, banana and milk. So happy to make muffins from scratch! Many thanks for sharing your recipes.
These were the best tasting banana muffins I have ever made. The use of all brown sugar makes all the difference.
I’m planning to make this tomorrow with my todler. How long would you bake using a mini muffin pan?
Hi Laura, for mini muffins, bake 12–14 minutes at 350°F (177°C).
I have made these so many times, my family are obsessed with them!
If I don’t have all purpose flour can I use self rising flour?
Hi Meems, that swap would take additional testing, as you would need to change or omit the amount of baking powder and salt used. We recommend sticking with all-purpose flour here.
Too much baking soda taste. I put 1 teaspoon of baking soda and baking powder as recipe.
Oh my goodness!!!! I just made them, everything went perfectly as in the recipe and half of them are already gone, still slightly warm… crunchy on top and sooooo soft inside… i put little bit of chocolate pieces in and that is just perfect! My sister and her parter love it too! nobody wants me to take any to work tomorrow definitely not last batch
Can I use mini-muffin tins?
Hi Erin, absolutely. For mini muffins, bake 12–14 total minutes at 350°F (177°C).
These are absolutely YUMMILICIOUS! I make them at least once a week. I’ve used pumpkin instead of bananas when I’m out or don’t have any ripe ones. My husband and son gobble them up faster than I can make them LOL!
This batter was really runny and I was skeptical, but WOW!! They turned out fluffy and moist. A new family favourite!!
Just another typical recipe from Sally. By that I mean…OUTSTANDING. As with most of the recipes on this site, I know it’s going to be good so I just go ahead and double it. In my double batch of this I used half coconut and half brown sugar. I also used 1 cup of chopped pecans and 1 cup of chocolate chips. I made these on Wednesday and now here it is Saturday and I am almost out of muffins. Excuse me, I have to go make more muffins.
Why only 3 stars then?
This is my go-to recipe!
I love this recipe! I have made it several times already and they are a huge hit.
I am wondering, could I make these with no brown sugar, or no sugar at all? Hoping I could make these toddler friendly
Hi Winnie, we do not recommend leaving the sugar out of these—it’s important for taste, texture, and overall structure of the muffins. You might enjoy these whole wheat banana muffins instead, which are made without any refined sugars.
I just made this and it’s outstanding! I made it with the whole wheat flour and 3 tablespoons of almond milk. I added one scoop of mocha protein powder. The tops were crusty and the inside moist. My husband generally doesn’t like banana muffins and he loves these!
I know you provide a link for your favorite banana bread recipe and there’s no way I can go through all the comments. My whole family LOVES these muffins, but I’d rather make bread with this specific recipe. Is there any reason why I can’t, or what I should add/omit to make this a bread (obviously baking time would be longer)?
Hi Kim, you could use this batter for a loaf instead. Bake time will be closer to our banana bread. So glad these are a favorite for your family!
loved! i made it without egg and a little bit more sugar and still came out delicious, very moist and perfect crumb
This recipe got rave reviews at work! I even added some vanilla protein powder to it.
Oh. My. Goodness! These are the best banana anything I have ever had! I don’t know why I hadn’t seen this sooner. But I’m so glad I found it. I’ll be making these all the time now!
I had a few bananas that I had to use, freeze or throw out so I decided to try this. Best decision ever. No mixer, I just used a whisk and a spatula. It went together in no time. Perfect proportions. Twelve generous muffins. I did add the nuts and put Turbinado sugar for a little crunch. They are absolutely delicious. I am goint to try to freeze some.
Perfect!!
Do you have the nutritional information on these?
Hi Stacie, 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
I am baking these muffins right now. There must be a mistake with the weights some where as my batter was quite liquidy, i added another cup of flour to get the consistency in the photo and description.
This is my go to recipe whenever I have leftover bananas, thank you so much for this great recipe!
Made these last night, so easy and so good!! My family loved them!
Can I make these into jumbo muffins? How long would they need to bake?
Hi Nicol, absolutely. You can use the baking times and instructions from jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
Absolutely delicious! I added a little cardamom and some chocolate covered espresso beans, and the family I brought them to devoured them. Thanks for yet again another simple and successful recipe!
Can you substitute canola oil in this?
Hi Tina, the butter really gives these muffins fantastic flavor, and we highly recommend sticking with the recipe as written. That being said, the same amount of coconut oil or canola/vegetable oil would work just fine.
My husband just loves banana muffins.
I made these for him. He said they are the best he has eaten. I will be making these again for him