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.
Ali
Hi Sam,
How long can these be frozen for? I also have baby on the way and am looking for good freezer options!
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Ali! They should keep for several months in the freezer. Make sure to keep them as air tight as possible. I like to wrap them individually. Congratulations! 🙂
Sandy
These are the most delicious banana muffins I’ve ever made. Seriously, my husband raves about them. Thank you for such a delicious recipe. I love to bake so I believe I need to get on your blog for more great recipes!
Sam
Thank you so much, Sandy! I am so glad you have enjoyed them so much! 🙂
jamie
hi sam, is it possible to make these chocolate banana flavoured by substituting a portion of the flour for cocoa powder? if yes, how much?
Sam
Hi Jamie! I think you could but having not tried it, it’s hard to say exactly how much to add here. 🙂
Patty
Can I use frozen bananas?
Sam
Hi Patty! I would probably thaw them first but they should work. 🙂
Kim
I’ve made these a few times, always delicious!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Kim! 🙂
Wendi
Is there something more I should add to your banana muffins recipe for high altitudes?
We are in the Colorado mountains!!
I have made your recipe many times & emailed you how GREAT
THEY’RE……AMAZING!!
Thank you,
Wendi ❤
Sam
Hi Wendi! Unfortunately I am not sure what alterations would be needed for high altitude baking. 🙁
Kate
Super! Light tasty, not too sweet (left off the topping), thanks for the heads up on the count. My little muffin tins made it 18, but I snitched one just to taste. So good!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kate! I think “taste testing” is required when baking. I’m impressed you only took one! 🤣
Julie L.
I have a sneaking suspicion that my family is purposely not eating the bananas around here, just so they’ll get overripe and I’ll make these muffins! They truly are the best banana muffins! In fact, I’ve thrown all other recipes away! While I’ve made them both with and without the topping, (and both ways are amazing) WITH the topping wins hands down. And your tip to start baking the muffins at a higher heat and then reducing to get higher tops is genius! Thank you so much for this delicious and life changing recipe!
Sam
🤣 Your family has an awesome plan then! I am so glad everyone enjoys them so much. 🙂
Ann Elliot
Fabulous! Found this while looking for a way to use 2 extremely ripe bananas. Even without that 3rd banana (next time, I promise!) these were a hit – moist and delicious. The only other change I made was to use Truvia baking blends (white and brown) instead of sugar. 15 muffins was more than I needed so I made 10 and baked the remaining batter in a mini loaf pan to see how this recipe would work as a banana bread. It needed more baking time, but looks delicious. (I could see this as a great little hostess gift). I made half the streusel recipe thinking I’d only top half since my husband does like things too sweet. Not only was there plenty for all 10 muffins and the mini loaf, but he proclaimed it a hit at first bite. Will definitely make this again!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Nancy Kaplan
I’m going to make them, but can I use sour cream instead of buttermilk?
Sam
Hi Nancy! I would really recommend the buttermilk here. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, I have an easy buttermilk substitute you can make and use. 🙂
Katie
Usually I make this recipe as is, but today I veganized it by making flax eggs and using plant-based butter and buttermilk. I still had really good results!
Sam
Thank you so much for your feedback, Katie! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Jenny Tarver
Added some cinnamon and nutmeg and little less white sugar came out perfect!! Will be saving this recipe for sure!Jenny
Sam
That sounds delicious! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jenny! 🙂
Sue
OH, MY. These are the best banana muffins i have made!!
These are delicious! I made them with the milk/vinegar mix because i didn’t have buttermilk, and they still turned out wonderful!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sue! 🙂
Amy Blotzer
So moist and delicious! A huge hit with friends and family! 🙂
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins so much, Amy! 🙂
jamie
absolutely delicious
Jen
2nd time making these today and they are delicious. My boys loves them!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear this, Jen! Thank you so much for commenting, I appreciate it! 🙂