Banana Muffins
These Banana Muffins are delicious, easy to make, packed with flavor, and ready in a little over 30 minutes. The perfect way to use up overripe bananas!
Do you always end up with too many bananas on your counter at the end of the week? Over the years I’ve shared some of my favorite way to use up overripe bananas with my homemade banana bread, banana cake, and blueberry banana baked oatmeal.
So today I wanted to share another fantastic way to use up those ripe bananas with these easy banana muffins. One of the things that I love about this recipe is that you don’t need a mixer to make it. You only need a couple of bowls and about 30 minutes to make these muffins.
I think these muffins are fantastic plain, but if you want to add some chopped nuts, chocolate chips or even blueberries I’ve added some options for that as well. These also freeze well, so you can make a batch and leave them in the freezer for an easy breakfast or snack when you need it!
How To Make Banana Muffins
To make these banana muffins, you’ll start out by whisking together your dry ingredients – all purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt.
- All-Purpose Flour: As with all of my recipes, you want to make sure to spoon and level your flour. Too much flour can lead to really dense muffins, so make sure to measure your flour correctly first.
- Baking Soda: This helps the muffins rise nice and tall and browns them a little too.
- Ground Cinnamon: I love the addition of the cinnamon in these muffins, but feel free to leave it out if you prefer.
- Salt: To help balance out the sweetness and enhance the flavor of the other ingredients.
Once the dry ingredients are mixed up, you’ll whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. For the wet ingredients, you’ll be using some melted butter, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, and mashed bananas. Let’s break down each ingredient:
- Melted Butter: To make this recipe a bit easier, I decided to just use melted butter so you don’t have to use a mixer. I suggest using unsalted butter, but if you use salted butter you’ll want to reduce the salt in the recipe to just a tiny pinch.
- Brown Sugar: The flavor of the brown sugar pairs beautifully with the banana flavor and it helps to keep the muffins moist too.
- Egg: It’s best to use a room temperature egg for this recipe so that the melted butter doesn’t get cold again. If you need to bring your egg to room temperature quickly, just place it in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes.
- Vanilla Extract: For a little extra flavor!
- Mashed Bananas: Because you can’t have banana muffins without bananas, right?! Remember the darker and riper the bananas, the better!
Once the dry and wet ingredients are mixed up, you’ll mix the two together until just combined. You may see a few lumps in your batter, but this okay! You want to avoid overmixing the batter because that can lead to denser muffins.
Then, just line a 12-count muffin pan with liners and evenly distribute the batter between all 12 liners. The muffins will need to bake for about 16-20 minutes, you’ll know they’re done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I suggest removing them from the pan and letting them cool slightly before you enjoy them.
FAQ’s
How many bananas will I need?
You’ll need about 3 medium bananas for this recipe.
How do you freeze these muffins?
Once the muffins have cooled, you can store them in a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, thaw to room temperature or microwave individual muffins for 20-30 seconds.
Can I make these muffins with whole wheat flour?
I don’t suggest using only whole wheat flour because it can dry the muffins out and make them dense. You can use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all-purpose flour in this recipe if you prefer though.
Recipe Variations
As I mentioned, these banana bread muffins are fantastic plain but here are a few ways that you can change up the recipe:
- Banana Nut Muffins: Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins: Add 1 cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- Blueberry Banana Muffins: Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw and stir them into the batter gently. If using blueberries, you’ll likely need to make more than 12 muffins and adjust the baking time slightly.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it from the container. Instead, stir the flour around to aerate it, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Avoid overmixing the wet and dry ingredients together, this can lead to denser muffins that don’t taste as good.
- Need to ripen your bananas faster? You can place them in a brown paper bag and close it tightly for 2-3 days to help ripen them quickly.
Recipe Video
Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour spooned & leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- ⅔ cup (135 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 and ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups (375 grams) mashed ripe bananas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with muffin liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and mashed banana until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter.
- Evenly distribute the batter between all 12 liners in the muffin pan.
- Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove the muffins from the pan, and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Banana Nut Muffins: Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter.
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins: Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips to the batter.
- Blueberry Banana Muffins: Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw and stir them into the batter gently. If using blueberries, you'll likely need to make a few extra muffins.
I’m diabetic and I want to make these muffins but I need to know how many carbs are in a muffins. Thank you
I’m not sure on the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator (like My Fitness Pal) to get an estimate.
This is a great tasting recipe! I have made them as is with the recipe, and made them gluten free with monkfruit or other no-sugar, alt sugar versions. Always comes out delicious.
Fantastic! Quick and easy to make
I love the banana muffin recipe although I’d like to make banana bread instead… would that be okay and how long should I bake it for?
Yes, it would be okay to bake it in a loaf pan! The baking time will depend on the size of your pan, but for a 9×5 loaf pan I would guess about 35 to 45 minutes. I also have a banana bread recipe here. I hope that helps!
I rarely read the preface, jump right to recipes, but always read the comments 😁 I added 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and walnuts and the muffins are amazing. Thanks for sharing your recipe and comments 🥰
I made this with coconut flour and the batter ended up being like brown sugar clump and packed 🙁
I try to do organic
Coconut flour absorbs a lot more moisture than all-purpose flour. If you tried to substitute it 1:1 for all-purpose, that’s probably why it turned out that way. If you’re trying to replace all of the flour with coconut flour, you only need to use about 1/4 cup of coconut flour per cup of all-purpose flour. Keep in mind that it will still change the texture and taste of your baked goods too.
Super easy to make and very tasty. I printed the recipe and plan on using it often. Thanks!
Girl I made these muffins for people in the office and they LOVED it! I definitely recommend choosing this recipe to create a good treat!
Wow! Just made these this morning. Subbed dairy free butter & egg substitute due to allergies & these came out amazing. I am usually not a fan of banana bread but my kids love it…I gave these a taste & they may have converted me! I actually said “whoa” out loud after I took a bite. Super easy, no fancy ingredients, and you end up with an incredibly rich & tender muffin! Go make these right now.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! They were so moist! I added chopped walnuts. Interesting that there’s no liquid except melted butter. So moist and delicious!
I haven’t made these yet but they look delicious!! I do have 1 question though. How many muffins does the recipe make? I am making them for an incoming trip and I need to know. Thanks!! And again, these muffins look AMAZING!!
It makes 12 muffins.
Just wondering the calories of these delicious muffins
I’m not sure on the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator (like My Fitness Pal) to get an estimate.
Rose beautifully and really were quick and easy!
Can I add frozen cranberries?
Yes, that would be fine!
Delicious & easy to make!
I’m making these today! Sounds so yummy! Adding walnuts..
Yum! Followed recipe and came out great! Thank you
so good!
Wonderful recipe as is. Moist and tasty. Thank you. If I wanted to make these adding peanut butter, would you suggest leaving all or part of the butter out? Thanks for your advice.
I haven’t tried it, so it’s hard to say. I wouldn’t leave out all of the butter, I would still use at least 1/4 cup. You could probably swirl some peanut butter into the top of the muffins before baking them too.
They reminded me of Bob Evan’s banana bread. Yummy.
These smelled amazing while baking. I substituted almond flour for all purpose and chia seeds with water, for the egg.
They definitely did not turn out in muffin form but rather like a little banana bread /cookie bowl for ice cream. 😉 I wish I could leave a pic because it’s honestly hilarious! Looks can be deceiving, because they were still delicious!
Turned put great for me as muffins! I cooked at 375 for 18 minutes. I also filled the butter almost to the brim for fluffy tops. Hope that helps!
I also used 3/4 c honey instead of either sugar just to note. Yum! Will top with a coconut cream frosting. Frosting is simple and great! Put a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight. Then take out. Use only the thick cream on top. Mix with vanilla extract and a cup or so of powdered sugar. Yum!
Batter* not butter xD
That is because of the substituions. Almond flour works for many things. However it doesn’t rise and stay risen. Almond flour baked goods usually deflate some as it cools .
They were delicious! I used Sucralose and low carb flour. I also added walnuts and a whole teaspoon of cinnamon. Batter was not mixing well, so added just a tad of milk. Better than banana bread and more convenient to eat. I will be making these again! Great way to get enough potassium instead of a boring banana. 😂 Thank you!
This is the best banana muffin recipe. My family loves these with chocolate chips added but it’s good as it is as well. Always turns out great and very easy to make with ingredients you usually have on hand.
Quick, Easy, Delicious!
Made these tonight (national muffin day!) and they are delicious and fluffy! I substituted gluten-free flour and the recipe worked great!
Love these! What would I adjust the bake time to for mini muffins?
Thank you, Melissa! Baking time for mini muffins is usually about 9 to 13 minutes. I would test them with a toothpick to make sure they’re cooked all the way through.
A+++++ recipe. These are fantastic muffins—not only because they’re delicious (they are!) but also a breeze to make—literally one bowl, minimal mess to clean up, easy ingredients and prep and lots of yummy variations. I’ve been making these instead of banana bread lately and loving how easy they are to grab for a quick breakfast or snack and to share.