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.
Alicia Watts
The muffins turned out perfect. They were tender and moist. I followed the recipe exactly except for adding 3/4 cup of chocolate chips to the batter before baking. Yum!!!
Sam
You can never go wrong with a little bit of chocolate! I am glad you enjoyed them, Alicia! 🙂
Ginny
All I have on hand is salted butter…will that work with this recipe?
Sam
You can use salted butter. Since there is only a small amount of butter in the recipe I would only reduce the salt added by about 1/8 teaspoon.
Ayala
There’s nothing nicer than finding a successful recipe! These muffins are heavenly! ❤
Sam
Thank you so much, Ayala. I am glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
angela
These muffins are amazing!! Tried this for the first time and followed the recipe exactly. Turned out perfect!! The best recipe I have found!! Will definitely make these again.
Sarah
Getting ready to make these again. Made them 6 weeks ago or so… My adult son, who doesn’t like bananas (or even muffins really), asked me when I was going to make them again. Was shocked. Great recipe to follow and they came out perfectly. Had to “make” the buttermilk last time because I didn’t have any. This time I have the buttermilk. Can’t wait to see how they cone out tonight.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them! My husband hates banana stuff and tried these and loved them! I hope they are even better this time. 🙂
Mysti
Hey do you think I could use Apple cider vinegar for the buttermilk substitute?
Sam
Hi, Mysti. As long as you are using it in the buttermilk substitute, it will work just fine. 🙂
Julia
Since I was on a time crunch, I made a simple peanut butter glaze to throw on them instead of streusel but this recipe was great!!!
I didn’t want to run to the grocery store either so I made these modifications with what I had on-hand:
4 ripe bananas
added 1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
6 Tablespoons coconut oil – Is it obvious yet that I like coconut? haha
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
I added an extra 2 minutes at 350 and they came out moist and perfect! Thanks again for this great recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Julia! I have not tried them with coconut. Sounds delicious. 🙂
Vivian
Man o man! Best muffins ever. I followed the recipe and they were splendid. Thanks for all the great tips!
Sam
So happy to hear they were such a hit! Thank you so much for commenting, Vivian! 🙂
Jenna
The muffins came out so well, they look great! They are a bit too sugary for my taste- but I’m sure that means my kids and husband will love them! Haha 😀
Sam
I’m glad they were such a hit! Thanks for commenting, Jenna!
Erin
I made these muffins and they were by far the best I’ve had! I’d love to turn it into loaves to gift for the holidays, but wasn’t sure how it would bake with the alterations in oven temp – have you tried this in a loaf pan at all? Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
Sam
Hi, Erin. I think it would work, but I don’t know how long it would need to bake.I do have a chocolate chip banana bread recipe if you’d like to check that out! 🙂
Pshap
Great recipe and easy to make. Even for a novislce Baker. My family LOVED them. Now I’m experimenting with the recipe using pumpkin and all the spices that make pumpkin pie so delicious! Wish me luck!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the banana muffins! If you are looking for a good pumpkin muffin, I have a really good one on my website. 🙂
Angela
These came out perfect! I try to make banana bread and we end up forcing ourselves to eat a few pieces, but it’s bad. No problem! I’ll keep making these instead! Thanks for the recipes.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them, Angela! 🙂
Pam
Hi Sam,
I added a little more butter milk and came out not so dry but tasted good. And I need extra 15mins @about 190-200C for muffins to be fully baked.
I will try again with lesser liquid next time. Thank you for a great recipe!
Pam
Singapore
Sara
Lemme tell you folks, I’ve tried a lot of banana bread recipes. Every single one of them has been dry and bland, so much so that I’d given up on actually finding one I was going to be happy with. But lo and behold, I had some crazy over ripe bananas and had to do SOMETHING with them. After poking around the internet I find one that looks worth trying. This recipe… THIS RECIPE. Every bite is tender, moist and flavorful. My faith in humanity has been restored by this banana muffin recipe. Banana bread is back on my menu, but sadly I can’t afford to make it again too soon otherwise I’ll gain 50 lbs.
In the interest of transparency, I did have to make a few alterations. My boyfriend had to take the car, so desperate times call for desperate measures.
Traded:
Baking powder for more baking soda
Canola/vegetable oil for Olive oil
Buttermilk for the buttermilk substitute
Also threw some dark chocolate chips into that sucker and couldn’t be happier.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Sara! Thank you so much for letting me know how much you liked it. ☺️
Pamela
I totally agree, the BEST recipe in my 55 years of living! I’ve looked high and low for an amazing recipe. Now I’m addicted ut ohhhh. 🤣🤤
Martha
Hello! I made mini muffins with this recipe and ended up burning them. I baked them at 425 for 5 minutes and then 350 for 5 minutes. What do you suggest for time and temperature for mini muffins?
Sam
Hi, Martha. Unfortunately I have never tried making these into mini muffins so I don’t have a good suggestion for you. 😔
Mariah
I made them as mini muffins. I baked them at 425 for 5 minutes and 350 for 10 minutes. They came out perfect. So yummy!
Amy Crabtree
Absolutely perfect muffins!! Baked as instructed and came out brilliantly! Huge hit with my family! The extra made a perfect mini loaf which I am taking for a hostess gift. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them, Amy!
Dana
These were amazing! My topping browned up a little more than I would have liked but they were incredible!
Dana
P.S. sorry I couldn’t find how to comment other than your reply😃
Sam
Thank you so much for letting me know! I am glad you enjoyed them. 🙂