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.
eli
Light, moist, fluffy – truly the perfect banana muffin! The recipe made 25 smallish muffins and I made half with choc chips. I followed the recipe perfectly except for having no brown sugar (does not exist in Germany). I’m sure they would be even better with that! Even people like me who don’t like bananas will love these. The only hard part was waiting for the bananas to turn brown!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Eli! ๐
Rebecca Lewis
Light, fluffy and clean-up is easy because no mixer is used.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Rebecca! ๐
Shelly
Can these be made with almond or oat milk instead of the buttermilk?
Sam
Hi Shelly! I haven’t tried it but I think it will be fine. The muffins may not be quite as moist though. ๐
Amber Mock
If I wanted to make jumbo size muffins, how long would I bake them?
Sam
Hi Amber! I would follow the guidelines for my bakery style chocolate chip muffins. ๐
Lisa Perinetti
Hi, Sam,
which brand of brown sugar you use?
Sam
Hi Lisa! I usually have domino brown sugar on hand. ๐
Rei
Hey sam! I was wondering if it is possible to bake this in a 6โ cake pan
Sam
Hi Rei. I haven’t tried it but it could turn out. I’m not sure of a bake time. Let me know how it goes. ๐
Megan
Hi! Can these same ingredients be used to make banana bread instead of muffins?
Best muffins Iโve ever had!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Megan! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! I actually have a banana bread recipe that you can use instead. Same great flavors, just the correct amount of ingredients. ๐
Marie
Hi Sam,
These truly are the BEST Banana muffins ever!!! My family loved them and I love them more, haha. Seriously, I have not ever found a banana muffin recipe that I cared for until now!! Thank you so much for sharing!
I love your recipes. Iโve been following you for a while now and every one of your recipes Iโve tried are sooo good. My favorite and my beautiful grand babies fav is, of course, Bakery Style Chocolate Chip muffins ๐ Thank you again!!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Marie! I’m very thankful for your support and I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. The chocolate chip muffins are definitely a great option so I know why everyone likes them so much. ๐
Ashley
Seriously the BEST banana muffins Iโve ever had. Found it last fall and itโs been my go to ever since. Sometimes I add a little honey glazed walnuts and cinnamon and/or fall spice of the sort to the batter. Everyone who has been lucky enough that Iโve shared some with (Iโm super greedy haha) has absolutely loved them as much as me. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them so much, Ashley! ๐
Ashley
Theyโre amazing! Oh and I did follow your suggestion for freezing them…when I donโt totally pig out on them, hehe…and it was perfect. They were just as delicious defrosted/warmed as they were fresh!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Ashley! ๐
G
Can this recipe be doubled?
Sam
Definitely! Enjoy! ๐
Judy Jackson
Loved the carrot muffins.Do u have recipes 4 whole wheat or any other flor recipes please?
Sam
Hi Judy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins. Unfortunately I do not have any muffins that use whole wheat flour. I typically only use all purpose flour because it’s what most people have on hand. I’m sorry. ๐
Adreene
These are absolutely the best banana muffins Iโve ever made or tasted! Iโve made them several times to rave reviews. Thank you so much for sharing.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Adreene! ๐
Cleo 1111
I made these last night …. these were the BEST banana muffins l have ever tasted and better than any you could ever buy. I am absolutely thrilled to have found this beyond exceptional recipe. It is absolutely OUTSTANDING! A heartfelt thankyou for sharing such an incredible recipe. A huge hello from Melbourne, Australia!
Sugar Spun Run
You are very welcome, Cleo! I am so glad that you enjoyed them! I look forward to seeing what recipe you try next! ๐
Vicki
My family absolutely loved these muffins! This is the second batch. I followed the recipe exactly are wouldnโt change a thing.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed them, Vicki! Thank you so much for commenting. ๐
Pamela
Yummy as promised.
I added finely chopped walnuts to the strudel. It was a great addition.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the muffins, Pamela! ๐
DiAnn
Wondering if anyone has ever substituted almond flour successfully? Itโs all I have on hand.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, DiAnn! Personally, I have found that almond flour tends to try the muffins. Looking through the comments from others who have tried this recipe, no one has mentioned almond flour. If you try it, I’d love to know how they turn out for you!