My well-loved Banana Muffin recipe makes incredibly soft, moist muffins with tall, bakery-style tops, sweet banana flavor, and an optional streusel topping. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Your New Favorite Breakfast Muffin
Today I’m re-sharing one of my favorite muffin recipes on the blog, and apparently, it’s one of your favorites too! With nearly 500 five-star ratings, this banana muffin recipe is so well-loved–and for good reason. These aren’t bland, boring, or basic banana muffins; they’re fluffy, moist, and loaded with banana flavor! And if that’s not enough, I recommend topping them with a crumbly, buttery streusel topping…yum.
It took a lot of tries and tweaks to get this recipe just perfect, but it was well worth the trial and error. This recipe makes the softest, most flavorful banana muffin I’ve ever tasted–with or without the streusel on top–and I’m so proud to share it with you!
What Makes My Banana Muffin Recipe the BEST:
- It produces big, beautiful muffin tops, thanks to a nifty oven trick.
- They truly taste like banana muffins, not banana bread in muffin form.
- No mixer needed–these come together easily by hand!
- They take just 30 minutes from start to finish.
What You Need
I found I needed several key ingredients for super flavorful banana muffins:
- Three ripe bananas. Ripe bananas mash easier and impart a stronger banana flavor, so save this recipe for those dark brown bananas lingering at the bottom of your fruit basket (unlike the ones pictured above!).
- Butter and oil. We’re using a blend of both for the best flavored and textured banana muffin (same reason I use a blend of the two in my vanilla cake!). Stick with a neutral oil like canola, vegetable, or grapeseed, and make sure your butter is unsalted.
- Sugar. Using some brown sugar gives the muffins a rich flavor that granulated alone wouldn’t provide.
- Buttermilk. This keeps the muffins nice and moist. If you’re low on buttermilk, give my easy buttermilk substitute a try!
SAM’S TIP: Overmixing your batter can lead to muffins that are too tough and dense. To avoid this, I strongly recommend stirring your banana muffin batter completely by hand. Luckily, we’re using melted butter in this recipe, so mixing by hand is a breeze!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Banana Muffins
- Mash your bananas, then add the oil and melted butter.
- Stir in the sugar, then add the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk.
- Combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gently fold them into the wet ingredients.
- Portion the batter into a paper-lined muffin tin, filling each liner is ¾ of the way full.
- Prepare your streusel, if using, and portion over each muffin.
- Bake your muffins for 8 minutes, then reduce the temperature and bake for another 7-8 minutes until done.
SAM’S TIP: While I personally love and recommend the streusel topping, I know not everyone wants the extra sugar or dishes. As you can see, the “naked” banana muffin pictured below baked up beautifully with an even tidier, higher muffin top. So feel free to skip it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, although I do have a separate banana nut muffin recipe you might want to try (it uses browned butter too 🤤). You can add between 1-1½ cups of add-ins (chocolate chips work well!) to this banana muffin recipe. I recommend adding them when you’re almost done incorporating the dry ingredients.
Yes! To do this, you’ll follow the same instructions I provide for my bakery-style chocolate chip muffins:
Bake at 425F for 8 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350F (don’t open the door!) and continue baking until the muffins begin to turn golden brown. This can take anywhere from 7-15 minutes, so keep an eye on them!
This banana muffin recipe freezes very well! In fact, I did this in preparation for Luke’s arrival so I always had a quick breakfast handy during his newborn phase.
If you want want to freeze yours, allow them to cool completely, wrap individually in plastic wrap, place in a Ziploc bag, and freeze. To thaw, either set your muffins out at room temperature or microwave them (just use the defrost setting or they’ll become hard).
So, do you agree? Is this the BEST banana muffin recipe? Let me know in the comments!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
The Best Banana Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (385 g) well-mashed ripe bananas This is typically 3 large bananas for me
- ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil (may substitute vegetable or avocado oil)
- ¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 5 minutes
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- ¼ cup (60 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Streusel (optional)
- ½ cup (65 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter, cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F (220C) and line a muffin tin with paper liners*
- Place peeled bananas in a large bowl and use a fork or a potato masher to mash them – bananas should be well-mashed.1 ½ cups (385 g) well-mashed ripe bananas
- Add oil and melted butter and stir well.¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil, ¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter
- Stir in sugars until well-combined.½ cup (100 g) sugar, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract and stir well. Set aside.2 large eggs, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, ¼ cup (60 ml) buttermilk
- In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients — flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add dry ingredients to your wet batter and gently fold in until ingredients are just combined (don't over-mix the batter!).
- Portion batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each liner ¾ of the way full. Set aside and prepare your Streusel topping.
Streusel Topping (optional)
- Combine flour, brown sugar, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and use a fork to stir the ingredients together.½ cup (65 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Using a pastry cutter, cut in your cold butter until the butter is well-worked in and your mixture resembles coarse crumbs.¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter, cold
- Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over each muffin.
- Bake muffins on 425F (218C) for 8 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 (175C) (do not open the oven door or remove the muffins, just leave them in and reduce the temperature) and bake another 7-8 minutes on 350F (177C). A toothpick inserted in the center of the largest muffin should come out clean or with few moist crumbs (no wet batter) to test for doneness.
- Allow muffins to cool before enjoying.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
This recipe was originally published 01/05/2018. Updated with more information and better photos 10/17/2019.
Linda
A little more work to these than I’m used to, but worth the effort. Did not use the struesal, everyone loved them.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the muffins, Linda! 🙂
vickie
These are my new go to muffins!
They are so good!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Vickie! 🙂
Becky
Great recipe! Just made them and they are delicious! Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Becky! 🙂
Tami
Awesome recipe!! On reheating muffins, I found something that does the trick… heat on a baking sheet at 350 degrees, covered in foil for 12-15 minutes — then an additional 3 minutes uncovered. Even gets a *little* bit of that crisp back.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Tami! I have never tried reheating them that way. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
jean warner
just made these…..came out perfectly…..added chopped pecans to half of batter…..grandson who requested loved them. husband (no nuts) ate some while still warm with butter. great recipe!!
I also made my own “buttermilk”…first time
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Jean! I’m glad you were able to use the buttermilk recipe too, it may come in handy later down the road. 🙂
jean warner
just made these…..came out perfectly…..added chopped pecans to half of batter…..grandson who requested loved them. husband (no nuts) ate some while still warm with butter. great recipe!!
Julie
Family coming over tonight to help install my new dishwasher. Finally! I made these on a whim. I made half with chocolate chips. I couldn’t resist and tried one of those. Oooh my YUM! This is a keeper. Home cooked meal of beef pot roast, mashed potatoes and these amazing muffins. One happy family to come.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Julie! That sounds like a wonderful dinner. 🙂
Marilee
After many banana bread recipes, I finally found the one worthy enough to make it into the rotation. Next time I will try the streusel topping. Thanks for sharing!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Marilee! The streusel topping makes it even better. 🙂
Liz
If I only have salted butter, can I use it and omit salt in recipe?
Sam
I’d reduce the salt in the recipe to just 1/4 teaspoon and use the salted butter. Enjoy! 🙂
Joelle
Hi there! Amazing muffins!I want to make 6 jumbo size muffins. How would I modify temperature and cook time?? Thank you
Sam
Hi Joelle! I haven’t tried it, but I think the same times I used for my chocolate chip muffins would work. 🙂
Natalie
I have a quick question! Do you have any suggestions for modifying baking time for mini muffins? I want to make sure I do the correct temperature change so the tops are nice and high. Thanks, can’t wait to try them out!
Sam
Hi Natalie! I’m sorry I haven’t tried making these as mini muffins. If you try it, I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Iuliana
I’ve come across your recipe today and made it, it’s delicious, moist and fluffy on the inside with a cripsy sweet top. Thank you, I don’t have to make the usual banana loaf anymore haha.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear it was such a hit for you! Thank you so much for commenting 🙂
Diane
Love the muffins, thanks for sharing! One question: How to store muffins so the streusel stays crunchy? When I put into airtight container the streusel is not crunchy(best part)
Sam
Hi Diane! Unfortunately it does have a tendency to soften when stored. Your best bet is to let them cool completely and then transfer to the air tight container.
Lorraine
This recipe is amazing! The muffins are moist and delicious! The topping is more than enough for this recipe so be generous when topping each muffin. This IS the Best Banana Muffins Recipe!
Sam
Thank you so much, Lorraine! I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins! 🙂
Da
Excellent recipe..tried it and loved it ..thanks much for the tips
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins! 🙂
Paula Ward
I made these today and they are the ultimate in muffins!!!!! I followed the instructions as written and they were fluffy soft and flavorful. This recipe will be my go to for now on. They are even better then banana bread
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the muffins, Paula! 🙂
Brenda
What can I use instead of buttermilk if I don’t have on hand?
Sam
Hi Brenda! I recommend using my easy Buttermilk substitute. 🙂