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.
Pris
These really are THE BEST! This recipe lives up to its name. Easy, quick and absolutely delicious muffins. Perfect balance between being light and soft, while also being nice and moist.
The only change I made was reducing each type of sugar by about 20-25% and the muffins were still sweet enough thanks to some extra ripe bananas.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you think so, Pris! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review ❤️
Brenda
The muffins were very good although they didn’t hold together as well as I would like.
Betsy Parson
Just made these for a new neighbor. Turned out fantastic, just like all of your recipes.
LINDA
So so yummy!! Very moist. The strusel topping takes the muffins over the top.
Emily
Perfectly fluffy, sweet, and banana flavored!
Lori
They baked so perfectly with nicely rounded tops!! Delicious!!
Darlene S Townsend
This is the BEST banana muffin recipe that I have EVER made! Delicious! Thank you! Do you think this recipe would hold up to being baked in a standard loaf pan as well?
Sam
Hi Darlene! I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! I would actually recommend my banana bread over making this as a loaf. 🙂
Diane
These muffins are just the BEST! So easy to make & everybody loves them. I added mini chocolate chips for kids. They’re on my list for regular breakfast goodies!
KK
Thank you! This is the first muffin recipe that I have found where the muffins turned out exactly as I imagined they would! These are so good and your count of 15 muffins was spot on too (I have made so many sad muffins because the recipe said makes 12 and it really should have only made 6).
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy our recipe was a winner for you ☺️
Elizabeth
I mashed 3 bananas assuming it was plenty but then decided to weigh it and came up way under the 385g the recipe called for. I added more banana until I reached 385g. Batter was a little “soupy” and the muffins were slightly rubbery, although still very, very good. Wondering if 385g of mashed bananas is a little too much?
Sam
Hi Elizabeth! Hmm, 385g is what i personally use and from what you described it does sound like too much was used, though. Could there have been an issue with the scale? 3 bananas usually easily does it for me.
Tammy Satterfield
This is a very delicious recipe. Second time making it now. Grandkids love it.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it’s a hit, Tammy! Enjoy ☺️
Bea
Great muffins…I really like them and not a huge banana fan.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them so much, Bea 🥰
Bill D
These muffins are the best that I’ve found and tried. Not dry and not under-cooked. Great.
Theodora Weathers
Very delicious muffins, not like banana bread. Soft and moist. Easy to make, I didn’t change anything. Making them again tomorrow.
Thank you!
Gary August
The timing was difficult on the small ones. I did lower the temperature after 5 minutes. They were done after another 8 minutes. So 12 altogether. But the temp only dropped to 405 degrees. You just have to monitor. I will say the bigger ones were better.
Gary August
This is so much better than your standard banana muffins. My family went crazy for them. I did half of them with chocolate chips. I also did some in mini muffin containers. All went great.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they were a hit, Gary! Thanks for coming back to leave a review ❤️
Janice
How many minutes did you bake the mini muffins? Did you also do half the time for 425 degrees and the other half for 350 degrees for the mini muffins? Thanks for your help!
Michele
Hi Gary , when using the mini muffin tins , how long did you bake them, and did you drop the oven temp?