Banana Muffins

These Banana Muffins are moist, flavorful, and easy to customize with your favorite add-ins and toppings!

This recipe for banana muffins is a classic! There’s nothing fancy or fussy here—it’s just an old-fashioned banana muffin recipe that tastes a little bit like banana bread in muffin form. If you have a bunch of over-ripe bananas sitting on the counter, this is the perfect way to put them to use so they don’t go to waste!

Easy Banana Muffin Recipe

Whenever you’re making a recipe with bananas, using ripe or over-ripe fruit is key. Most people think this is because speckled or brown bananas are sweeter, and this is true, but there’s another reason, too: they taste more like bananas! A banana that’s barely ripe or under-ripe has a blander flavor, which translates to a banana muffin that doesn’t have very much banana flavor in it.

This banana muffin recipe is great for making with kids because as long as you don’t over-mix it, it’s pretty much no-fail! Let younger kids peel the bananas and mash them with a fork; older kids can make the whole thing by themselves, with some assistance putting the muffin pan in and out of the oven.

(Looking for more muffin recipes? Try my Easy Strawberry Muffins and Lemon Popp Seed Muffins, too!)

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour
• Sugar
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Ripe bananas
• Egg – Let the egg sit on the counter a bit so it comes to room temperature.
• Butter
• Vanilla extract

Variations + Additions

Feel free to add any of these to your muffins:

• Cinnamon
• Chopped apples
• Blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries
• Shredded coconut
• Chocolate chips
• Chopped nuts – Like Banana Nut Bread in muffin form!
• Streusel topping – Use the streusel from my Cake Mix Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe.

How to Make Banana Muffins

1. Prepare

Preheat your oven to 375°F and grease a muffin tin or line it with paper muffin cups.

2. Combine the Dry Ingredients

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

3. Combine the Wet Ingredients

In a second bowl, mash the bananas and stir in the egg, butter, and vanilla extract.

4. Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients; stir until just moistened, being careful not to over-mix. (It’s okay if there’s still a streak or two of flour in the batter.)

5. Bake

Divide the batter into the muffin cups, then bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

6. Cool

Let the banana muffins cool in the pans on a wire rack, then carefully remove them from the pan and place them directly on the wire rack to finish cooling.

How to Store Banana Muffins

Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days. These muffins can also be frozen in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 3 months; let them thaw at room temperature before serving or warm them up in the microwave from frozen.

FAQ

What is the secret to making moist banana muffins?

This recipe is moist thanks to the bananas! In a typical muffin recipe, it’s the oil that makes the muffins moist, but with the addition of bananas, you don’t need the oil.

Are banana muffins healthy?

Banana muffins are more of a treat than a health food, but because the bananas add sweetness and moisture, they are healthier than many other types of muffins that use more sugar and oil.

Can I make banana muffins with whole wheat flour?

I would recommend using white whole wheat flour or a combination of half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour, rather than substituting all the flour for whole wheat flour.

Why are my banana muffins tough?

If your muffins are tough, it’s almost always from over-mixing. The more you stir muffin batter, the more the gluten in the flour develops, and this makes muffins tough, rubbery, and dry. It’s better to have a few streaks of flour in the batter than to mix it too much.

More Reader Favorite Muffin Recipes

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Apple Cinnamon Muffins
• Blueberry Muffins
• Banana Chocolate Granola Muffins