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.
Patty Blackburn
This is the best recipe for Banana Streusel Muffins!!! Hands Down!!!
marie mcallen
like,👍🏻👍🏻 – the recipe layout, step by step instructions with weight of ingredient saves scrolling up and down, thank you 🙂
like, 👍🏻👍🏻 – the muffin , so did friends .
Gina
Excellent banana muffins. They’re a hit with everyone who eats them. I do add some chopped nuts to the topping.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy everyone likes them, Gina! Thanks for using our recipe 😊
Elizabeth
The best banana muffins i make them every time I’m adding fresh blueberries soooo delicious
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you like them, Elizabeth! 🩷
Deb
The best Banana Muffin recipe EVER! I could not believe how moist they were. I did not use the streusel topping because I wanted to taste them without it, as this was the first time making them. I also loved the crisp crunchy top, which was a surprise. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, and explaining your recipe. One word to describe…WOW!
Katherine
Delicious!
Diana Badowski
I was looking for something to bake using my overripe bananas and this recipe is delicious. My muffin pan holds 12 so I made two mini Bundt cakes with the remaining batter which required an additional 5 minutes of baking time. Loved your buttermilk alternative. Served muffins for dessert with a good dollop of whipped cream on top (did not do the strudel topping). Yummy
JA
Had 1 large over ripe banana so I made half recipe. Subbed buttermilk for 2% with splash of lemon juice. Made 6 perfect delicious muffins! Great recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them! Thanks for trying our recipe 🩷
Michele
Best banana muffin recipe I’ve ever made! I definitely will add this one to my recipe book.
Followed directions & recipe exactly and everyone raved!
Linda M
These are the best muffins I’ve ever made. So light and fluffy!
Thanks for the way you lay out the instructions and ingredients together. So easy to follow. The video was helpful too. Made a big difference with your method over the others I’ve make over the years. I look forward to more baking with you.
Merry Christmas
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Linda! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🩷
Michie
I have a muffin tray of 6 large muffins. How would I go about cooking time for that? Add on a few extra minutes for each cooking step?
Sam
Hi Michie! For my jumbo chocolate chip muffins I bake on 425F for 8 minutes and then 350F for another 15 minutes, or until tops are just beginning to turn golden brown. I think it would likely be similar for these muffins.
Jean
Delicious! This is my go to banana muffin recipe. I do appreciate that you list the amounts of the ingredients in the instructions. It keeps me from scrolling back and forth. Ingenious! thanks.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it’s helpful, Jean! 🥰
Kaylee
These were delicious!! I followed the recipe exactly and I’ll definitely make them again. Thank you for this recipe!
Linda
i was going to say the same thing about keeping ingredients within the recipe. Soooo much easier!
And I appreciated the video. your method is quite different and I think it makes a huge difference. much taller. ☺️
Thanks!
Patty
These sound like your Best Blueberry Muffin recipe, which my whole neighborhood
loves, can’t wait to try them!
Is Luke a new baby?
Sam
I hope you love them, Patty! This is an older recipe and Luke is 5 now! 🙂
gen
fantastic. best banana muffins that I have ever made!
Jenn R M
Delicious, moist, fluffy, golden and BIG muffins, just as I had hoped, even though I did not have buttermilk. Thank you.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Jenn! 🥰
Deborah
The muffins are delicious AND gorgeous! Beautiful dome. The crumb topping makes the muffins perfect. The muffin texture is soft and the flavor is not too sweet. I made 6 big muffins and baked for about 16 minutes. This recipe is a keeper!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for giving them a try, Deborah! Enjoy 😊
Mary Fisher
These are the best muffins I’ve made! But how would I turn this recipe into a loaf?
Sam
Hi Mary! I’m not sure how this would do in a loaf pan. I do have a banana bread recipe you can try. 🙂