Warm, homemade banana nut muffins are always in season! Ready in 30 minutes. Makes 12 muffins. These muffins are moist, fluffy, and full of banana flavor! You'll love this easy recipe!
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Why You'll Love These Muffins
Flavor - Use those overripe bananas to create muffins full of sweet, banana flavor!
Nutty - Walnuts add a rich nutty flavor and texture.
Fun muffin size - Delicious banana bread baked into banana nut bread muffins. How handy is that!
These may become your favorite muffins for breakfast, snack, or dessert.
How do you enjoy homemade muffins the day after you've baked them? You can certainly eat them at room temperature but have you ever sliced a muffin in half and toasted it? Try it! Spread butter over each hot half of the muffin...it is so good.
I've received SO MANY wonderful comments about these muffins!
- Kelli said, "Had to hide them from my 4 year old and hubby."
- Sha wrote, "Omg!! Perfection!! And my house smells AMAZING!! Soooo yummy!!!"
- Dave commented, "Doubled recipe. Made loaves instead of muffins - still great."
- Paul wrote, "Came out great I just added some cinnamon."
- Jenn said, "I made these into banana nut mini muffins. Turned out great and the kids loved them!"
Many people have told me that this is the best banana nut muffins with walnuts recipe. Thanks, I really appreciate all the comments! Keep 'em coming 🙂
Ingredients Needed for this Recipe
Non-stick cooking spray - or use paper muffin cups.
Ripe Bananas - you’ll want to use overripe bananas (look for the dark spots) and mash them until they resemble baby food.
Real Butter - use unsalted butter, but if salted butter is all you have, go ahead and use that.
Whole Milk - use almond milk if that's all you have.
Egg - room temperature eggs seem to blend better with the melted butter.
Pure Vanilla Extract - Substitute maple extract for a deeper maple flavor.
Light Brown Sugar - I have not tried this recipe with dark brown sugar so I don't know how the muffins would taste if using the dark brown sugar.
White Granulated Sugar - combining both white and brown sugar ensures the perfect level of sweetness with just a hint of molasses flavor from the brown sugar.
All-purpose flour - do not substitute with self-rising flour. The texture won't be the same if you do.
Salt and Baking Soda - common baking ingredients when using all-purpose flour. Do not substitute the baking soda with baking powder. The results won't be the same!
Unsalted Walnuts - you can find unsalted walnuts in the baking section of the store. Do not use salted walnuts which are typically found in the snacks section of a store.
Kitchen Tools/Equipment Needed
Muffin pan - this recipe uses a standard size muffin pan. You could use the jumbo size or mini size muffin pan but you'll need to adjust the baking time to accommodate for the different size muffins.
Large mixing bowl
Measuring cups and measuring spoons
Whisk - do not use an electric mixer for this recipe - all you need to do is gently blend the ingredients. A whisk works well for the blending process.
How to Make Banana Nut Muffins
(1) Add the mashed bananas, melted butter, and milk to a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine.
(2) Add egg, vanilla, and brown sugar. Blend with a whisk.
(3) Add in the remaining dry ingredients. Blend with a whisk.
(4) Add the walnuts and gently blend.
(5) Combine the batter well, but do not overmix. No need to beat the batter 🙂
(6) Fill muffin pan cups to about ¾ full. An ice cream scoop works well for this step.
(7) Ensure each muffin cup has an equal amount of muffin mix. Top with additional walnuts for that bakery-style flair, if desired.
(8) Bake as directed in the recipe card. Enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
- Use chopped pecans instead of walnuts (or leave the nuts out altogether).
- Add some chocolate chips (my husband's suggestion, lol).
- Spread peanut butter or almond butter on sliced, warm muffins.
- Nutella banana muffins are a unique and surprising flavor combo so try spreading some Nutella on that baked muffin!
- Sprinkle the tops of the cooked, cooled muffins with powdered sugar.
Frequently Asked Questions
To keep these muffins fresh and moist, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (refrigerate them and they'll keep fresh for a couple days more).
Absolutely! You can freeze these muffins for up to 3 months if you wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or place them in plastic freezer bags.
As I stated earlier, nothing is more wonderful than putting a small pat of real butter on a freshly baked, hot muffin! But here are some other things you may want to try spreading onto a banana nut muffin:
honey
Nutella
cream cheese
apple butter
Expert Tips
This recipe calls for packed brown sugar: spoon the brown sugar into a measuring cup. With the back of a spoon, press down the brown sugar. Spoon more brown sugar into the measuring cup, and pack down again with a spoon. Repeat the process until the measuring cup is full of brown sugar.
Don't overmix the batter. Just blend it enough with a whisk to incorporate the ingredients.
Spray a standard 12-muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. OXO offers a wonderful, heavy gauge muffin pan with easy grip sides.
How to Transport Muffins
So now that you've made these delicious muffins, what's the best way to transport them? I recently discovered a plastic carrier that's perfect for transporting pies, muffins, and cupcakes. It's the Southern Homewares 3-in-1 Plastic Holder Container. It offers easy-grip handles, a snap-tight lid, and it's made out of durable plastic. Available now on Amazon!
Other Amazing Muffin and Cake Recipes
This recipe was originally published in 2019 and was updated in 2021.
If you made this easy banana nut muffin recipe, please comment below to let me know how it turned out for you! I'd love to hear from you.
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Recipe
Banana Nut Muffins
Equipment
- Standard muffin pan
- large mixing bowl
- measuring cup(s)
- measuring spoons
- whisk
Ingredients
- non-stick cooking spray
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed about a cup of mashed bananas
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted walnuts, chopped (plus extra for topping if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a standard muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray and set aside
- Add the mashed bananas, melted butter, and milk to a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla, and brown sugar.
- Add in the remaining dry ingredients and fold in until just mixed. Then, fold in the walnuts.
- Fill muffin pan cups to about ¾ full. Ensure each muffin cup has an equal amount of muffin mix. Top with additional walnuts, if desired.
- Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for at least 5-10 minutes before serving.
Lori C
So good! Recipe is excellent and 5 stars (6 stars, really) as written. The second time I made them, I subbed 1 cup of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour for a little extra nutrition and it was still 5 stars! I put an extra splash of milk in to compensate for the absorbency of the wheat for and they were perfectly moist. Also, as others suggest, add a shake of cinnamon. Thank you for this great recipe!
MyKitchenSerenity
Yay! Thank you so much for letting me know! I’m glad you liked them. Wish I had a couple of them now. Thanks for your substitutes, it’s very helpful to others. Have a wonderful day!
Tracy K
I followed the recipe , so delicious and moist.
MyKitchenSerenity
Thanks for your comment, Tracy! I'm so glad you liked the muffins 🙂
Angele
I don’t have whole milk. Would 1% work?
MyKitchenSerenity
Hi Angele! I think 1% milk is fine. Thanks for asking. Hope you enjoy the muffins.
Amanda Hamilton
So yummy! We’ve made these twice so far. We used pecans instead of walnuts. Will definitely make these again! Thanks!