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.
Judy R
I added some apple sauce to moisten them and they came out amazing! Thank you for sharing recipe!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Judy! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Mary Gaj
Best muffins ever! Do you think that I can also make banana bread with this recipe?
Sam
Hi Mary! I would recommend using my banana bread recipe instead. 🙂
Alissa
Hi! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe I absolutely loved it! So much so that I decided to use it for my cooking class! I was just wondering if there was any way to configure how much of other nutrients (like fats, proteins, carbs, sodium, and sugars) are in the recipe?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Alissa! I have used sites like myfitnesspal.com to calculate the total nutrition for recipes, that should work for this one as well! I hope that helps!
Mari Misirli
Easy and delicious 👌
Katrina
These muffins are delicious! The first time I made them, my 6 year old told me that if he saw a shooting star, he would wish for more muffins 😂 Needless to say, these muffins are a staple in my home. Thank to so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
Sam
That is so cute, Katrina! I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much. 🙂
A
I loved the recipe! I added an extra banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Definitely reconmend adding the streusel topping
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Val
I’ve tried so many recipes looking for the perfect one. This hit the mark! It was moist easy and the title deserves BEST. I make 12 muffins and one loaf of. Read from the recipe. I passed on the topping and makes honey butter which we added a swipe to the bread slices and muffins. Muffins are all gone and I have 1/4 of the loaf left and that’s only because I had to hide it away. I will be making these for Thanksgiving. I might even substitute pumpkin and add the topping. The recipe base is perfection truly. Thank you for moist amazing muffins. I’m so glad I found this.
Sam
Thank you so much, Val! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! I actually have a pumpkin muffin recipe you could give a try. 🙂
Nicole M.
We love love these muffins. Wanted to make them mini sized – How would you suggest I adjust the temp/time?
Sam
Hi Nicole! Unfortunately I haven’t baked them as mini muffins so I’m not sure how long they would bake. I would try baking them at 375 for maybe around 11 minutes, but be sure to keep an eye on them. 🙂
Natalee
Omg!!! These are so delicious! I was excited because I was actually able to make 24 muffins! I didn’t have buttermilk so I was nervous about substituting Greek yogurt! Turned out wonderful!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Natalee! If you are ever in need of buttermilk, I have an easy buttermilk substitute you can use. 🙂
Christina witt
Lives up to its word-best banana muffin I have ever tried-I am 70.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Christina! 🙂
Hannah
I just tried this a few minutes ago! Everyone here loved it! I cut the recipe in half and made 13 2oz cuppies and it was gone 10 mins after I pulled it out from the oven. I’ve only able to save 2 pieces for my hubby when gets home later. Thank you for this!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Sandy Fath
LOVE these muffins! Best banana muffins I’ve had! I am now making a huge amount of them (48) and wanted to know if these can be left out on the counter, if covered tightly, for 3 days. I would hate for them to get ruined.
Sam
Yes that would be fine! Enjoy 🙂
Nancy Ludwig
Did not use the strudel. Made large breakfast muffins and mini snack muffins. One of the best recipes ever. Next time I have to use sugar substitute or less sugar, just for our diets. Off to buy more bananas to over ripen……..
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins so much, Nancy! 🙂
Jennifer McDougal
My son says these are the best muffins he has ever had. I was looking for a way to use ripe bananas besides banana bread or banana pudding. These are great because you don’t have to worry about the stale end of bread when you cut into it. The only problem is they don’t last very long. 😉
Sam
😂 I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jennifer! 🙂
Amanda
Swapped out AP flour for gluten free cup 4 cup and they were absolutely perfect!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Amanda! Thank you for your feedback substituting the gluten free flour. 🙂