The Best Banana Muffin Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This recipe was originally published 01/05/2018. Updated with more information and better photos 10/17/2019.
Just made these and they are delicious and the best ever. Much better than banana bread. Easy to make as well….and “yes” on the streusal!!
I am so happy that you loved the Banana Muffins, Jane! Thank you for your comment. The streusel really adds so much, right? I hope that you try more of my recipes. 🙂
This recipe was a disaster for me. The muffins And streusel burned and the Streusel. I followed the recipe to the letter. Cannot figure out what happened. I had to throw them out. Very disappointed.
Oh my goodness that’s disappointing to hear! My best guess would be that the oven temp is running hotter than it’s letting on or they just needed less time to bake in your oven. You did decrease the temperature to 350 as indicated, right?
These were amazing! The only changes I did was I roasted my bananas in the oven till the skin was black to sweeten the bananas even more, substituted the white sugar for pure maple syrup and added PB2 powder to up the protein and give it a great roasted peanut butter flavour. Huge huge hit!
I love the idea of roasted bananas, Monica! Sounds delicious. I am so glad that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins and love the additional twists made to the recipe. Enjoy!:)
Absolutely loved the muffins! Just made them plain but iced some with chocolate icing and they are delicious! Was wondering is you can make this in a loaf bread??
So glad you enjoyed the banana muffins, Janice! I’m sure you could though you would have to watch the bake time. I also have a Banana Bread recipe though if you want to check that out
Do you have baking time for mini muffins? I WILL gain waight on big ones!! 😉. Thanks
Hello, Judy! I’m sorry, I do not. You will bake at the same temperature, but just keep an eye on the bake time. I hope that you enjoy the mini Banana Muffins. 🙂
Dang you Sam!! I’ve gained 15 pounds because of you. 😂😝. Keep cooking and sharing.
When recipes are so good it’s easy to do! Lol. I am sorry, but I do hope that you enjoy them! 🙂
First time Baker. These muffins were great. You were correct about the bananas the riper the better the flavor. The one’s I used were a touch green but the muffins were still very good. The topping was great also. Thank you!
bHello, James! Thank you so much. I am glad that you enjoyed the banana muffins. The riper the banana the better for sure! Enjoy! 🙂
Looking for a recipe for blueberry muffins one of my grand daughters has requested some. Thank you!
Here is my favorite Blueberry Muffin Recipe, I hope she loves it! 🙂
Made these muffins and was so pleased with the lightness of the crumb and the delicate flavor. I like big muffins so squeezed all the batter into 12 cups vs the recommended 15.
Also switched out the vanilla for dark rum and they have a deep sweet flavor. Love these!
Thank you so much, Emily! I am glad that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
These are the BEST banana muffins I have ever made!!! The flavor is outstanding and they are so moist and light. I love anything with streusel topping so these were perfect. I made the recipe exactly as written and used the large tulip type muffin papers to hold in all that streusel. I baked them just a little longer and they came out perfectly. I love a little drizzle on my muffins for looks and taste so I made a vanilla and cinnamon glaze that took them over the top. The amount of vanilla in the muffin recipe didn’t worry me as I have a recipe for banana bread that calls for 1 T of water and I use vanilla, rather than water. So good!! Thank you for this outstanding recipe. I can stop looking for the perfect banana muffin recipe now!!
Lynn, thank you so much! I am so glad that your banana muffins turned out so well and I love the sound of the vanilla and cinnamon glaze you added. I am so happy that you enjoyed the banana muffin recipe. I hope you enjoy it for years to come! 🙂
I’m fairly new to this baking game and in the past every time I want to bake banana muffins I’d try a different recipe….that is until I tried this one. These are the best muffins out there. If I tried a different recipe I feel I’d be cheating on this one and we can’t have that! Amazeballs! Thanks from Toronto, ON.
Thank you so much, Jay! I am so glad that you found my banana muffin recipe enjoyable! 🙂
When I bake, I usually add extra vanilla, a little more salt, some spices to taste, and just kind of wing it when it comes to flavor profiles. This is the first time in a long time that I’ve followed a recipe verbatim, and I’m SO GLAD I did.
This recipe, in my opinion, has a perfect balance between the banana and vanilla flavors. I only got 12 muffins out of the batter, but I think that’s because I overfilled the cups slightly, which also resulted in a longer baking time (~5-6 minutes more than the recipe indicated). But that was definitely user error on my end.
My coworkers are raving; this recipe was an absolute hit! Definitely will bake again in the near future, maybe with some toffee chips mixed into the batter!
Corina, thank you! I am so happy that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins and your co-workers did too! The added toffee would be a perfect addition. Enjoy! 🙂
Absolutely fantastic recipe, the best after trying several others! We live in Florida and just harvested our first bunch of mini bananas and I couldn’t wait to make muffins with the over ripe ones. These came out perfectly golden brown and not one dropped top among them. Light, cake-ish and buttery without being a bit greasy. I added a touch of cinnamon and cardamom to make them a bit spicy – delish! Another gold ticket recipe by Spun Sugar Run, which is by far my favorite baking/cooking site. **Caroline
Caroline, what a sweet comment. Thank you so much for being a fan and supporting my site. I am so happy that you enjoyed the banana muffins. With your own supply of bananas, you may want to also try my recipe for Banana Cake, it’s one of my personal favorites. Enjoy! Thanks again! 🙂
While I was cooking breakfast, my son said he wanted banana muffins. So I did a quick google search and saw this recipe. I had all the ingredients and asked my 11 year old to help make them. We had so much fun making these m. The best part is, these were delicious. I hate banana. I hate banana muffins. But these are a game changer. I enjoyed one with a hot cup of coffee and it completed my morning. This recipe is staying in the books for me. Thank you so much for sharing. These are my new absolute favorite muffins!
I am so happy that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins, Maggie! I am also glad that you had an extra set of hands who enjoyed making this recipe with you. Thank you so much for your comment. Enjoy! 🙂
With the remaining dough after 12 muffins I made mini waffles. Soo good! Thank you for the recipe
What a great idea! I am so glad that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins. Thanks for commenting, Joy! 🙂
Just made these and they were delicious, but the vanilla flavoring was a bit too much. The muffins were light and moist. Will definitely make these again, but with much less vanilla. I have never seen a muffin recipe that called for a Tablespoon of vanilla. I questioned it, it since it was my first time trying this recipe I didn’t want to deviate.
Hello, Anita! I am so happy that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins. If there is too much vanilla for your liking, next time just cut back or remove. Thank you for your comment. I hope you enjoy them! 🙂