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.
Scott
These are THE BEST of The Best banana muffins! ( I had stopped making muffins because every recipe came out too dry. ) These are the perfect texture and so flavorful. And go for the streusel topping… More than worth the extra calories! Thank you, Sam. I just subscribed and am looking forward to baking more of your creations!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Scott! I hope you love everything else you try! ☺️
Letty
I was looking for a banana muffin recipe since I had some ripe bananas and time. So glad I tried it. They are so delicious and moist! The amount of sweetness is just right. I will be making these again!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them!! ☺️
Jineen Uhren
Very tasty and moist! Keeper recipe! Thank you!
Sam
Thank you, Jineen! 🙂 I am so glad you enjoyed them.
Sally K
Tried these yesterday and they are better than any other banana thing I’ve made. Great recipe to pass on. Now I have to try your other recipes for sure
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Sally! 🙂
Catherine Foote
These muffins are the best and I consider myself as a bit of an expert. As soon as I read the recipe I knew it would work. Cooking is a science. This recipe must not be mucked with if possible. I admit that I have added 1 cup of choc chips but the egg/butter/oil/buttermilk/sugar/flour etc and yes salt ratio is the perfect equation. Thank you Sam
Sam
Thank you so much, Catherine! I am so glad you enjoyed them! I love the addition of the chocolate chips. Happy baking! 🙂
Anna
I’ve tried several banana muffins recipes and none really stick out like this one because the texture stood out. One bite into it and my thought was, “Yum! This recipe is a keeper. ” This recipe has the perfect balance of being light, moist, fluffy, and flavorful. I usually reduce sugar in American recipes because I don’t like things too sweet. I reduced the white sugar to 1/3 C and reduced the salt to 1/4 tsp. I increased buttermilk to 1/3 C because I live at high altitude and baking bread tends to be drier. At high altitude, I tend to tweak my baking recipes a little but I only tweaked the buttermilk this time. I also used coconut oil instead of canola oil just for curiosity. I really like your explanation of why you use certain ingredients and your tips. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Sam
Thank you so much, Anna! ☺️ I am so glad you enjoyed them.
Sally Kelley
Oh wow! Too good for words! Absolutely the best.
Sam
Thank you so much, Sally! 😊
Erin
I made these yesterday and they are AMAZING! I did not add the streusel on top, I can only imagine how great they’d taste with it. Definitely a recipe to keep on hand! I doubled the recipe and made one batch of muffins, one loaf. Thank you for the recipe!
Sam
Hi, Erin! You should definitely try it with the streusel topping you won’t regret it! I’m so glad you enjoyed it😊
melissa
Delicious! Super fluffy. Thanks for the long explanation on why buttermilk is necessary- I used some lemon in half and half. I substituted 1/2 cup of cocoa powder instead of flour. Also used coconut oil instead of butter.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them and were able to use the buttermilk substitute. I have to use it allll the time because I don’t frequently buy buttermilk. 😊
Tammy
Tried your banana muffin recipe they was great. But then I tried several other banana muffin recipe cause I wanted less sugar ( I’m diabetic) they was not as good. So today I’m trying your recipe with less sugar and only one cup regular flour and one cup wheat flour. Can’t wait for them to come out of oven.
Sam
I hope you love them just as much the second time! 😊
Vanessa
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I tried today and it’s perfect (even though I put more buttermilk by mistake).
Sam
So glad to hear you enjoyed, Vanessa!! Thank you for commenting! 🙂
Marty Salzberg
Have made this recipe twice, exactly as noted. Family loves them! I was looking for one without nuts and this is great. My only slight variation – I only have one 12 muffin tin, but I have a shallow “muffin top” tin that I used for the extras. I had to remove them about 3-4 minutes into the lower temp. baking cycle to keep them from burning. Still delicious. Thanks, a true keeper.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Marty! ☺️
Cindy
Omg best banana muffins ever. Gonr in day.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them! ☺️
Jeanne Simmons
When I try internet recipes, many get tested and tossed. This one made it to my keep binder. Only had two bananas, but still turned out perfect. Excellent crumb, tender and delicious. Added walnuts because I love them. Did not use streusel, saving that for company, because I will make these again. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them! I hope you love everything you try. ☺️
Anne
Made it as shown except for the addition of some nuts. These are awesome. I had smaller bananas than you showed and I never made anything with bananas and not had exact measurements. I used 4. Perdect!! Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Anne! ☺️