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 ยพ 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 ๐คค). You can add between 1-1ยฝ 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 (donโt 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 coolย completely, wrap individually in plastic wrap, place in a Ziploc bag, and freeze.ย 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!
Letโs bake together! Iโll 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 ยฝ cups (385 g) well-mashed ripe bananas This is typically 3 large bananas for me
- ยผ cup (60 ml) canola oil (may substitute vegetable or avocado oil)
- ยผ cup (60 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 5 minutes
- ยฝ cup (100 g) sugar
- ยฝ cup (100 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- ยผ cup (60 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
Streusel (optional)
- ยฝ cup (65 g) all-purpose flour
- ยฝ cup (100 g) brown sugar
- ยผ teaspoon salt
- ยผ 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 ยฝ cups (385 g) well-mashed ripe bananas
- Add oil and melted butter and stir well.ย ยยผ cup (60 ml) canola oil, ยผ cup (60 g) unsalted butter
- Stir in sugars until well-combined.ยฝ cup (100 g) sugar, ยฝ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract and stir well.ย Set aside.2 large eggs, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, ยผ 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 ยฝ teaspoons baking powder, ยฝ teaspoon baking soda, ยฝ 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 ยพ of the way full.ย 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.ยฝ cup (65 g) all-purpose flour, ยฝ cup (100 g) brown sugar, ยผ teaspoon salt
- Using a pastry cutter, cut in your cold butter until the butter is well-worked in and your mixture resembles coarse crumbs.ยผ 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.
Jimmie
This is really the BEST banana muffin recipe!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Jimmie! I am so glad that you enjoyed the muffins. ๐
Mandi
Made these last night for my daughters K2 graduation morning tea today, they went down very well! I didnโt have any spotty bananas, so I sliced 3 yellow ones into a baking dish, stirred through a spoonful of dulce de leche, then baked until soft. I did add less sugar because of the addition of the caramel. Muffins were light and airy, and very moist. 1 batch made 26 small muffins. Will 100% make again!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that the muffins were such a hit, Mandi! Thanks so much for trying my recipe! ๐
Tammy George
These were the best muffins I have ever made. My whole family including my daughter who is so picky love them. She wonโt stop begging me to make more. This is definitely going to be my go to muffin of choice!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that everyone enjoyed the banana muffins, Tammy! Thanks for commenting ๐
Nancy Leger
Do you know if the results would be much different using white sugar instead?
Sam
I like and recommend the brown sugar because it adds moisture and flavor to the banana muffins, but they will still turn out if you substitute the brown for white granulated instead.
Patti
I have made this two times this month – once with the sugar topping, and it is the very best muffin EVER!!!! I added pecans, and my husband thought they were amazing and so fluffy, and very impressive with the streusel topping
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks for letting me know how they turned out, Patti ๐
Pearl Silva
Can I substitute a loaf pan instead of a muffin tin?
Sam
You could, the baking time would vary though. You might want to check out my banana bread recipe instead ๐
Adreene
This is the best ever banana muffin recipe! I’ve made it several times always to rave reviews. And thanks for the substitute buttermilk tip. It works like a charm.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Adreene for trying my recipe. I am so glad that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins and the Buttermilk Substitute worked well for you. Thanks for commenting. ๐
Wendy
Just purchased a giant ceramic muffin pan. Adjusted your muffin recipe to utilize my new pan and the recipe yielded six gigantic muffins. They look like they came out of a specialty bakery. The taste was absolutely wonderful. Thank you for sharing this special recipe.
Barbara
Best banana muffin ever. So light and fluffy. I did double the recipe and used sour cream instead of buttermilk. Made mini muffins with the left over batter. Thank you for sharing.
Sam
Thank you for letting me know how they turned out for you, Barbara! I appreciate it! ๐
Allyson Diaz
This recipe was amazing ! I didnโt have any buttermilk on hand so instead I used 2% Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar in substitute. Also didnโt have any eggs either !! Lol so I used applesauce . Turned out amazing. Thanks for the recipe
Sam
I’m so happy to hear the banana muffins were a hit! Thanks for commenting, Allyson, and thank you for sharing your substitutions, too!
Laura
These were delicious! My husband said they were the best muffins he has ever had! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, Laura!! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how they turned out for you, I appreciate it! ๐
Pell
Hi Sam,
Thanks for sharing and the recipe is great. By the way, what is the function of buttermilk?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed! It mostly adds moisture and flavor to the banana muffins ๐
Martha
Yes! I have to agree, “The Best Banana Muffin recipe”. Didn’t add the topping, delicious on its own.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Martha! I am so glad that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins. Thanks for commenting. ๐
jerri ororke
Can this recipe used as a loaf instead of muffins?
Sam
Yes but I’m not certain what the baking time will be. I do have a Banana Bread recipe if you want to check that out, though!
Linda
Excellent muffin. Great banana flavor, moist and tender. The streusel added a nice crunch. My family loved them. Definitely will make them again.
I adjusted the recipe a bit by making 12 versus 15 muffins. I baked at 425 for 9 minutes and 10 minutes at 350.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that you enjoyed the Banana Muffins, Linda! Thank you for commenting. ๐
Zarinah
Hi Sam,
I make the same way, recipe slightly different. I added plain yogurt, chocolate rice and sprinkled with chopped almonds…tastes great!…I do muffins and/or cake – both turn out well. Been doing it for years, within an hour you have nice hot from the oven banana muffins/cake ๐
Sugar Spun Run
Sounds delicious, Zarinah! I am so glad you enjoy the banana muffins. ๐