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.
Beth
Hi- can I use regular milk? I don’t have buttermilk
Sam
Hi Beth! I would recommend making my buttermilk substitute. 🙂
Mary Starnes
They were delicious. Thanks Sam for another great recipe
Tascha
this is the best recipe! love how it has the amount of ingredients under directions. so I don’t have to bounce back and forth!
Hannah
Great muffins i added blueberries to the recipe and they were delicious
Patty Connolly
Can you send me Maid in the mini muffins and if so, how long should I cook them?
Sam
Hi Patty! I haven’t tried these as mini muffins, but I think it should work just fine. I would bake them on 375 for 11-13 minutes. You will want to keep an eye on them as they bake though. 🙂
Patti
Keep your row sugar in the freezer. It softens quickly at room temperature and re-freezes easily!
Emily
These were perfect! I usually have to make changes to the recipe when I write it down for the next time I make it, but nothing is needed here! Make the streusel, it’s worth the extra 5 minutes it takes to make it.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad you enjoyed, Emily! Thanks for the review 😊
Jeanne Swanson
Funny story- just recovering from COVID and a little fuzzy, I accidentally used 1 cup of homemade buttermilk. Believe it or not, It was still perfectly formed and delicious!!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re happy to hear that it still turned out for you, Jeanne! Hope you are feeling better soon 😊
Tjasa
I only added 2 large spoons of cocoa powder and about 100g of chocolate chips and they were delicious! Moist, soft, with taste of banana and chocolate. I have been avoiding baking muffins since most came out dry, but these were fantastic! Great recipe! But I got 24 muffins out of this ingredients not 15, luckily I must say since 12 vanished in the first hour after making them…
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they turned out so nicely for you 😊
Lynette
Hi just made a batch of Banana muffins , Best recipe I have ever used .
Thanks for sharing this recipe with us .
Laura
This is the best muffin I’ve ever made! I’ve never had a muffin melt in my mouth like this before either. I’m going to look at more recipes you’ve made because if they’re anything like this one… 100/10!!!
Rhochelle Wiktorski
I’m making the banana bread recipe. My brown sugar is hard as a rock! That happens due to our high heat and no humidity! Can I crush that up and still use?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Rochelle! We’d recommend putting it in a bowl covered with a damp paper towel and microwaving for 10-20 seconds to soften it back up. Then it should be fine to use 😊
Ashley
put a piece of bread in your hard brown sugar. it’ll soften up after 15-20 minutes, and it stays that way for while too.
Asena Nikkel
Little trick I learned from my MIL to keep brown sugar soft. Place a slice of bread in the container on top of the sugar. Replace the bread when it’s hard with a new soft piece. Works like a charm! 🙂
Wendy Kittle
Put a slice of fresh bread in the container leave it overnight and your brown sugar will be soft again.
Sandra
Totally Agree
Best Banana Muffin Recipe
Susan
This has to be the Very Best banana muffin I have ever made! It is a keeper and trying to find the print button.
Carly
I’ve made these 3 times now and they are perfect and moist. I add choc chips and nuts. I add about 1/4 cup of apple sauce too if my bananas are on the small side and it’s great for the texture.