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.
Michelle
Fo you happen to have a time for jumbo muffins?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Michelle! To make them jumbo, you can follow the baking instructions on our bakery style chocolate chip muffins 🙂
Dani
I never comment on recipes but this one is so good! I also appreciate the layout of ingredient amounts in the directions. So much easier to follow!
Sam
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, Dani! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Lori
Yum! Very tasty!
Alyssa
I absolutely cannot wait to make these shortly, just want to say I really love how you format your recipes it is so thoughtfully written and love how you include the metric options. Looking forward to trying some more of your other delectable recipes.
Petrea Robinette
I made these yesterday, June 3, 2024. They turned out perfectly, and the taste is so delicious. I think the strudel topping is what makes these cupcakes the best!!!
Emily
My go-to recipe! I just make 12 and fill the muffin cups to the top. They need an extra 4 minutes at 350 to bake through and then are perfect!
Stephanie
These are so yummy! The topping adds such a nice treat. I made a double batch to share with a friend who has nine kids. They were gone in hours! Thank you!
Sarah
I don’t usually post recipe reviews, but this recipe was such a hit! My kids go through phases of liking or disliking bananas so we regularly are left with over-ripe bananas. I’ve made made so many different recipes before, and while they have all been good (I’m personally partial to the ones with cinnamon in them), this recipe made fluffy, almost restaurant type muffins and my kids gobbled them up! I didn’t try the topping but the muffins themselves were excellent!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy the muffins were such a hit for you and your kiddos, Sarah! We have LOTS more banana recipes that will use up those leftover bananas 🥰
Ginger
Ok, I’ve got to admit when I first saw this recipe I was skeptical due to the baking time. My tried and true recipe for a loaf takes nearly an hour. I made this recipe with the addition of a pinch of cinnamon in the streusel topping and it turned out amazing. My daughter hates when I try new recipes of her favorites, but after eating one of these muffins, she said absolutely keep this recipe!! We love them 😊❤️
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! ☺️
crissi
Wow! I’ve tried a lot of banana muffin recipes, this one is outstanding! Very tender, moist, soft, and full of banana and vanilla flavor! Only thing I did a little different was reduce the white sugar by (about 3-4 TBSP. ish )and instead of 1 1/2 C banana, I did about 1 and 3/4 C. Great recipe! THANK YOU!! Wonderful!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Crissi! Thanks for the review ❤️
Amira
This is my go to banana muffin recipe! Just wondering if you’ve ever tried using coconut oil instead of butter. I have a lot of coconut oil (Costco size!) to use and would hate for it to go to waste. Thanks in advance!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Amira! We haven’t, but you can certainly use the coconut oil instead of the canola oil. The butter is important for flavor here, so we don’t recommend leaving that out. Enjoy!
Amira
Ok I’ll have to save it for another recipe! Was thinking for substitute coconut oil for butter. Thank you!
Kim
I had some buttermilk sitting in the fridge and some dying bananas so I did a search for a muffin that would use both this morning and came up with this winner! I figured that many positive reviews had to be a good sign. I tend to make a zucchini banana muffin mostly that has cinnamon in it so this was a fun change. It smelled pretty great as they were baking – a light banana and vanilla smell – and they taste lovely. They are light and soft and a lovely light color. Winners! I baked them exactly as listed and they came out great. The streusel is very fine so it sort of blends in. I actually like it a lot but I might mess with it sometimes and add a more chunky streusel version…maybe even with nuts in it also…and see how that turns out to change it up! Solid recipe. Thank you!
Janice Davis
I needed a lot of small desserts so put the batter in 32 mini cups. Baked at 400 first then 350 for same times as noted. They were awesome. Then I froze them until needed. Took out of the freezer and piped light buttercream and lime zest for presentation. Wonderful. Note: as I used previously frozen very overripe bananas, I drained the liquid for a very concentrated banana puree, this resulted in about 1 1/4 cup and worked out for perfection. Wonderful recipe, thanks.
Kris Marie
Hi Sam, can I use vanilla bean paste in place of the vanilla extract? thank you.
Sam
Hi Kris! Yes, absolutely, I’d probably do an even substitute. Enjoy!
Patricia
I’ve been using a tried and true NYT banana bread/muffin recipe for decades. No other recipe came close until I tried your recipe today. Family loved these moist muffins! I substituted plain Greek yogurt thinned with milk (3 Tbl + 1 Tbls plus a few drops of vinegar) for the buttermilk and it worked great! I added chopped nuts to half the batter and those took about 2-3 minutes longer to bake. Instead of streusel (watching our sugar), sprinkled a little coarse sugar on the nut-free version and nuts on nut version. Have already saved this to my recipe folder and will make again (and again). Thank you for the inspiration!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Patricia! 🙂
Al
I’ve never made banana muffins without walnuts and wanted to try something different. I’m very pleased with the result. There’s no issue filling 12 muffins all the way to the top. (that’s how I normally make mine because I like a rounded top). I added about 5 minutes of baking time at 350F. Streusel topping is a must! Seems like a lot, but I trusted the recipe and used all of it. Good recipe, thank you.
Gabriella
This truly is the best banana recipe! The only one I make since we have nut allergies here. Can you tell me – how long are these good for? Looking to make ahead for the week. Are they best stored at room temperature, or in the fridge? Just making sure to avoid mold growth. Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Gabriella! We’re so happy you love the muffins. These can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for about a week 🙂
Lee
I’m a beginner and sooo confused on the measurements, here is one example 1/2 c (100g) sugar …then there’s 1/2 C (65g) flour? That’s 2 different weights? 1/2 c should be 125g I think?! I’m confused? Could you please clarify?
Sam
Hi Lee! The difference has to do with how much fits in the cup, for example, the sugar and flour, the granules on the sugar are much smaller and a lot more fit in the cup. So 1 cup of flour is going to weigh less than sugar. I hope that helps. 🙂
Lee
Thanks for the quick reply! I bought a little scale and measured everything. I didn’t realize that all my measuring cups have different amounts, 237ml to 250ml so I got a little scale and measured everything. Thank you for this recipe… YUMM! ❤️
Barb
This the best banana muffin recipe ever! I ran out of vanilla so I replaced it with 1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract and 1 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract. Oh. My. Goodness