Perfectly moist and soft, these simple but delicious banana muffins are going to be the best muffins you’ll ever make. They’re flavorful without being overly sweet, making them a great healthy breakfast muffin.
These muffins are so easy to make, there’s no need to break out the mixer. You only need a couple of bowls, a muffin tin, and 30 minutes to make this banana muffins recipe! Far from boring, these muffins are always a hit with the family. If you’re feeding a crowd and want variety, or you’re prepping for a bake sale, try making my blueberry muffin recipe and my easy chocolate muffins.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Flour — all-purpose flour is ideal for muffins as it gives you a sturdier muffin.
Baking powder and soda — to help lift your muffins, you’ll need baking powder and baking soda. Make sure these leavening agents are fresh and haven’t expired.
Bananas — this muffin recipe is perfect for using up overripe bananas. They should have brown and black spots all over and be soft, so they are effortless to mash. Overripe bananas are extra sweet and soft, making them perfect for baking; they also add more banana flavor and moisture.
Butter — as this recipe has salt added, make sure you are using unsalted butter and not salted butter. Your muffins will come out too salty if you’re using salted butter.
How to Make Banana Muffins
1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Mash 3 ripe bananas in another bowl.
3. Whisk together the banana, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract, until incorporated but the bananas are still a bit lumpy.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
5. Stir until combined.
6. Add the batter to a lined muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes. Let the banana muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes and serve or cool completely on a wire rack.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Don’t use an electric mixer, or you could over-mix the batter, resulting in dense muffins or large holes in the crumb. Instead, use a spatula or wooden spoon and mix until everything is just combined. This is the secret to moist and fluffy muffins!
- Bring your eggs and milk to room temperature, so they incorporate fully into the batter without accidentally overmixing. If they’re cold, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes before using them.
- I recommend using real vanilla extract over artificial vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Measure the flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake, leading to a dense muffin. The best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale.
- You can easily mash your bananas with a fork or potato masher.
- For more flavor, brown the butter before using it. Just make sure to allow it to cool before combining with the wet ingredients.
- Make sure the oven temperature is high to start. The high temperature helps the tops of the banana muffins spring up for that classic dome muffin top.
- If you have frozen bananas, thaw them before mashing and using them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I ripen my bananas faster?
If your bananas aren’t ripe enough, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until the skin blackens and the bananas are soft. Allow the bananas to cool a bit, then peel them, transfer to a bowl, and mash them up!
If you have some close to ripe bananas and a little time, you can store them in a closed paper bag, and the ethylene they naturally emit will ripen them quicker.
What are some variations I can take?
These homemade banana muffins are a great base recipe for add-ins. Here are some ideas:
- Banana Nut Muffins: stir in ½ cup of chopped walnuts or nuts of your choice to the batter. You can also toast the nuts before stirring them into the batter.
- Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins.
- Banana and Blueberry Muffins: stir in ½ cup of fresh or frozen blueberries to the batter.
- Mini Banana Muffins: use a mini muffin tin instead of a regular one. The baking time will be less, so start checking on them around the 15-minute mark.
- Banana Nutella Muffins: stir in a dollop of Nutella in each of the muffins before baking.
How do I store leftover muffins?
Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for 3 days. To have them last up to a week, store the banana muffins covered in the fridge. Reheat or enjoy the muffins as is.
How do I freeze these muffins?
Once the muffins have cooled to room temperature, wrap each muffin individually with plastic wrap and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, you can flash freeze them on a lined sheet pan before transferring them to a large freezer-safe bag. Flash freezing them allows you to pull them out individually to thaw.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Banana Muffin recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Banana Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1½ cup mashed overripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted (113g/120ml)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together banana, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla, until incorporated but the bananas are still a bit lumpy. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined. Divide the batter among each paper liner (they will be almost full).
- Bake for 5 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350F and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch and the tops are golden brown. Let muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes. Serve warm or remove them from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Video
Notes
- Don’t use an electric mixer, or you could over-mix the batter, resulting in dense muffins or large holes in the crumb. Instead, use a spatula or wooden spoon and mix until everything is just combined. This is the secret to moist and fluffy muffins!
- Bring your eggs and milk to room temperature, so they incorporate fully into the batter without accidentally overmixing. If they’re cold, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes before using them.
- I recommend using real vanilla extract over artificial vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Measure the flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake, leading to a dense muffin. The best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- You can easily mash your bananas with a fork or potato masher.
- For more flavor, brown the butter before using it. Just make sure to allow it to cool before combining with the wet ingredients.
- Make sure the oven temperature is high to start. The high temperature helps the tops of the banana muffins spring up for that classic dome top.
- If you have frozen bananas, thaw them before mashing and using them.
