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
These were absolutely delicious I only used 1/2 cup brown sugar and added approx 1/2 cup choc chips. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you! Your recipes and tips make me look like a professional baker! Very much appreciated!
Could we brown the butter before using it? Or would that change the consistency too much?
Yes you sure can – YUM!
These muffins are delicious! I have made them 3 or 4 times in the past month. Thank you Sally for such dependable recipes.
Wow! These muffins are awesome! I made 24 mini muffins and only difference was I used half/half since I didn’t have milk! Love how tall and puffed they are! And so moist! Thank you! If I put a few choc chips on top before baking would they stay or sink? What about sanding sugar?
I’m so happy you enjoyed these muffins, Elise! You can absolutely sprinkle chocolate chips (I love using the mini chips!) or sanding sugar on top for some extra crunch and sparkle! 🙂
My husband loves the recipe. We made it with half of the sugar and still loved it. I DID add a bit of milk (just splashed some more in the batter when it looked too thick to me). And I used the 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill the muffin tin. Thanks for the recipe! We just moved to normal altitude after doing high altitude baking for a number of years. I was looking for a new recipe and think I found it! Would love to try with whole wheat flour to see if the family would also like them that way.
Just made these! Used whole wheat flour, only 2 bananas and 1/2cup maple syrup instead of sugar.. they are amazing! Kept all other quantities the same!
I love the muffin top puff that comes with the initial heat burst. Great recipe! I’ve made with both whole wheat flour, coconut oil and flax as well as all purpose flour with butter. Both weredelicious!
Had to use up some spotty bananas, I’m not usually a fan of banana muffins but these were amazing! Super easy to make, minimal dirty dishes, and absolutely delicious!
Insane.
My sons are banana feens. I make banana muffins all the time. But these were the best ever. I just ate 5!! They’re extraordinary. Light, fluffy, and awesome loaded up with crunchy walnuts. Yum. Only thing I changed was I put a generous amount of avocado oil in the bottom of muffin tins before adding batter… & I used softened, not melted butter… then I baked at 375 for 14 min
I have just made these muffins and lacking butter substituted that with sunflower oil. I used only 2 bananas as we didn’t have more and gradually used only 2/3 of every ingredient because of that. I used self raising flower instead of banking soda or powder.
I dropped one bite of milk chocolate in the centre before putting them in the oven, to create a soft chocolate centre.
Yielded 12 muffins that are perfect in flavour and shape (not too big as I filled 12 cups to half).
They are perfect texture and soo soft and yumm! Thanks so much! I am now saving this for the generations to come!
I just made these and they are divine. By far the best recipe I’ve ever used. I actually used 5 very ripe smaller bananas and only 80g of sugar.
Tasted great.
Hi Sally,
This muffin recipe is amazing my 2 year old loves it. I was just wondering if you knew why my muffins keep sticking to the wrapper and when I peel it off the dough pulls away as well. It’s happened before with the blueberry muffins as well. Do I have a cheap liner or should I butter the muffin tins instead? Help
What an amazing recipe – easy to follow and they turned out deliciously soft and moist! Thank you for teaching us to be better bakers and not just to follow your recipe. This was the first one I’ve tried, and I am so excited to try more. I had loads more bananas than required by this recipe so I scaled up my ingredient quantities and it still turned out good. Two things, though that maybe you could assist / advise on: 1. My muffin tops were high but not as crispy as i would have liked them. I was too afraid to leave it in for longer, in case i dried it out. What can i do next time I try it to have a crunchier top? 2. My muffins were very “bouncy” and they stuck together well but also stuck to the cupcake liners a bit – not like breaking off in pieces… they came off the liner in one piece, but also a bit sticky. Too much egg, maybe? I scaled up ingredients x 2.5 but then used 3 eggs.
I grew up baking with my grandma and your site has inspired me to pick it up again – thank you!
Hi Monique! So glad you loved these. It could be the doubling (and a half) of the ingredients– I always recommend making separate batches because you risk over or under-mixing when working with more batter. These muffins don’t have crispy tops since they’re so moist, but you can add a little coarse sugar for some crunch. 🙂
This recipe makes THE.BEST banana muffins!!! I have family coming for Christmas, and somebody has an egg allergy. Is it possible to substitute something for the egg and still have them turn out?
Hi Katie! You can try a little yogurt or even a flax egg (give it a quick internet search for amounts!). I haven’t tested the recipe with either option.
I have made these muffins multiple times and they always turn out amazing! They are the prettiest muffins I’ve ever made myself and so easy! I use 1/3c brown sugar and 1/3c coconut sugar and I’ve tried them with and without semi-sweet chocolate chunks and they are amazing either way! I’ve tried with whole wheat flour and they were good, but I much prefer all-purpose flour in this recipe, the ww seemed to make the muffins slightly dry. I’m not sure if I am missing it, but I am not seeing the nutritional facts for this recipe which is my only complaint. Keep in mind, every time I’ve made this recipe, I only get 10 muffins which is a bit annoying, but fine with me since they taste so amazing. These muffins always make the house smell delightful. I made them again today and added pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon and nutmeg because I was feeling festive and I am anticipating them to taste just as amazing as they always do! Thanks for the awesome recipe and if you are thinking of trying these…do it today!!!
First time I make these banana muffins, and they were just as expected from other Sally’s recipes: super-easy, fast, and tasted delicious!!! Soft and moist: pure perfection – after 21 minutes baking (5+16 as instructed), with a nice top. Thank you so much, Sally!
Huge hit with my mom-in-law!! Thank you!!!!!
Made these banana muffins and they turned out absolutely delicious. I used almost 4 bananas and reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and the muffins were perfectly sweet for us. Also, I added about 3/4th cup of fresh blueberries to the batter. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour (Aashirvaad atta) and 1/2 light baking flour (I happened to have this). Thank you!
Trying your whole wheat pizza dough now
Oh my goodness. Where do I start these are the nicest banana muffins I have ever made. I had some yucky bananas and literally just Googled moist banana muffin recipe as we have a horrible oven in nothing turns out the best. But wow these are amazing.
Absolutely delicious and easy. I used margarine, because that’s what I had. I also used half brown sugar and half white, granulated sugar, because I don’t like a lot of brown sugar taste. They are so moist and delicious!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Makes perfect muffins! I added shredded coconut and flaked almonds to mine. They were delicious!
Super yummy! I added chopped walnuts and chocolate chips and they were delicious. I made them for my parents and they loved Them!! Will do again!
BEST BANANA MUFFINS I HAVE EVER MADE!
I’m not typically one leave comments, however I felt it necessary to share my interesting results. While I had every intention to follow your recipe exactly as written… I made a pretty glaring mistake: After the muffins had cooled, and I had already enjoyed tasting (two of) them, it was time to clean up for the evening. I went to place a steam sanitizer bag with my baby’s bottles into the microwave when, to my confusion, I discovered the bowl of butter I had melted while mashing the bananas! Yep, I totally forgot to add the butter to the mix! I have to say, I did not notice the lack of butter in the finished product whatsoever. The muffins popped out of the (Teflon) pan perfectly clean, and the taste and texture was excellent. The one extra ingredient that must have saved me was the generous amount of walnuts I added to the batter. I always chop them in the processor to a fine “meal-like” size for banana bread/muffins, so the walnuts alone must have added enough fat to the recipe. Next time I use this recipe I will be sure to remember the butter and see which I prefer! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Simply amazing Sally!!! Like ALL your recipes. I used to be intimidated by baking, but now thanks to you I LOVE IT.
This is my go-to recipe for banana muffins!! I found it on a whim because I had brown bananas, but I only wanted to use what I had in my kitchen so I modified it from the start.
I use Kodiak cakes pancake mix instead of the flour, I use stevia instead of brown sugar, I use almond milk instead of regular, and I opt for the coconut oil instead of butter! I also add 1 more banana than the recipe calls for, and walnuts as well, and guess what they come out amazing!! Not too sweet and super moist!
Followed recipe exactly, 23 muffins gone in one night! Thank you for the recipe!
Super fast! I love how light these muffins are, not dense like banana bread.
Might double if you are wanting a large batch of them, mine made 9 large muffins.
I definitely will make again. 🙂 Thank you Sally!
ADORE this recipe, Sally! Just what I needed for a holiday open house. Thank you!