Warm, homemade banana nut muffins are always in season! These fluffy, moist, and perfectly sweet muffins are ready to eat in only 30 minutes. Plus, they're packed with banana flavor and crispy walnuts! You'll love this easy one-bowl recipe! Here's what people have to say:
- 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!"
If you love easy, moist muffins like these, you'll also enjoy my Bisquick Applesauce Cinnamon Muffins.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love Banana Nut Muffins
- One Bowl. No need to bring out multiple bowls (i.e., one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients). Everything is mixed in one bowl!
- Customizable. You can easily swap out the walnuts with pecans or chocolate chips. This recipe works well for mini muffins, too.
- Moist Every Time. No fail recipe ensures a moist muffin (because dry muffins are just the pits!)
- Perfectly Sweet. My readers have told me time and time again that these muffins have the perfect blend of white sugar and brown sugar.
- Tastes just like Banana Nut Bread!
Check out my White Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins. Just like these muffins, they're pretty awesome! What's your favorite muffin?
Ingredient Photo, Notes, and Swaps
- Ripe Bananas - you'll want to use overripe bananas (look for the dark spots but no bruises) and mash them until they resemble baby food. You can also puree the bananas in your food processor for extra fluff!
- Real Butter - use unsalted butter, but if salted butter is all you have, go ahead and use that.
- Whole Milk - I recommend whole milk because it has a higher fat content which helps keep the muffins moist.
- Egg - room temperature eggs seem to blend better with the melted butter. Easy swap - liquid eggs (like EggBeaters).
- Pure Vanilla Extract - vanilla extract is a classic flavor enhancer! Easy swap - use maple extract for a deep maple flavor.
- White and Light Brown Sugars - 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. Easy swap - use whole wheat flour.
- 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. Easy swap - unsalted chopped pecans.
If you still have a bunch (pun absolutely intended) of overripe bananas, use them to make my Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes! They use a lot of the same ingredients as these muffins.
Delicious Add-ins
- Add some chocolate chips (my husband's suggestion, lol).
- Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the batter.
How to Make Banana Nut Muffins
- Add the mashed bananas, melted butter, and milk to a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine.
- Add egg, vanilla, and brown sugar. Blend with a whisk.
- Add in the remaining dry ingredients. Blend with a whisk. Fold in the walnuts.
- Fill muffin pan cups to about ¾ full*. An ice cream scoop works well for this step. Bake as directed in the recipe card. Enjoy!
* Ensure each muffin cup has an equal amount of batter. Top with additional walnuts for that bakery-style flair, if desired.
Pair your muffins with a batch of pumpkin spice breakfast pancakes for the coziest autumn morning.
Tips for Perfect Banana Nut Muffins
- 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.
Delicious Topping Ideas
These muffins are perfect just the way they are! But if you're feeling a little fancy, dress them up with these fantastic serving ideas:
- Spread butter, peanut butter, or almond butter on sliced, warm muffins.
- Spreading some Nutella on that baked muffin for a unique and surprising flavor combo!
- Sprinkle the tops of the cooked, cooled muffins with powdered sugar.
How to Quickly Ripen Bananas
- Microwave. Pierce the banana skin severeal times with a fork (don't peel the banana). Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then gently press around the banana to see if it's soft enough. If not quite soft enough, continue to cook in 30-second intervals.
- Oven. Preheat your oven to 300F. Place unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and cook until the skins turn black, usually at the 15 to 20 minute mark.
- Brown paper bag. Place bananas in a brown paper bag (be sure to close the bag). They should be much softer in a day or two. Tip - adding an apple or avocado to the bag speeds it up a little more!
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. When ready to eat, it only takes about 10-15 minutes for one to thaw on the countertop or wrap one frozen muffin in a paper towel and microwave on high for 10-15 seconds.
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, cream cheese, or apple butter.
Yes! If you have frozen bananas, just let them thaw and then mash them up!
Best Way to Store Muffins
So now that you've made these delicious muffins, what's the best way to store them? Store them in an airtight container (ziptop bag or sealable container) on your countertop for several days. Putting them in the refrigerator may dry them out a bit. But they also freeze perfectly fine. Once thawed, they're still moist!
If you're going to be taking them somewhere, I really like a sturdy plastic carrier that keeps the muffins from moving around. The Southern Homewares 3-in-1 Plastic Holder Container is perfect for transporting pies, muffins, and cupcakes. It offers easy-grip handles, a snap-tight lid, and it's made out of durable plastic. Available now on Amazon!
More Amazing Muffin Recipes
Recipe
Banana Nut Muffin Recipe
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 the oven to 350°F. Spray a standard size (12-servings) muffin pan with non-stick spray or use muffin liners and spray them with non-stick spray.
- Add the mashed bananas, melted butter, and milk to a large bowl. Blend with a whisk to combine.3 ripe bananas, mashed, ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted, ¼ cup whole milk
- Add the egg, vanilla, and brown sugar. Blend with a whisk.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- Add in the remaining dry ingredients and fold in until just mixed. Then, fold in the walnuts.2 cups all purpose flour, ½ cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup unsalted walnuts, chopped (plus extra for topping if desired)
- Fill muffin pan cups to about ¾ full. Make sure each muffin cup has an equal amount of muffin batter. Top with additional walnuts, if desired.
- Place in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out fairly clean (no wet batter stuck on it). Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- 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.
- For extra fluffy muffins, puree the bananas in a food processor.
- Don't overmix the batter. Just blend it enough with a whisk to incorporate the ingredients. How to Store Muffins: You can store muffins at room temperature for up to 3 days if they're stored in an airtight container. You can also freeze muffins for up to 3 months if you wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or place them in plastic freezer bags. What to Put on a Baked Muffin: They're pretty darn good all by themselves, but you can try adding a pat of butter, peanut butter, Nutella, cream cheese, honey, or apple butter.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy to my readers. I'm not a nutritionist and I don't guarantee the accuracy of this data. The data may differ according to the brands I used versus the brands you use. To calculate the data yourself using your brands, try using an online nutrition calculator or app.
Ed says
Easy recipe ... moist and very tasty !
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thank you, Ed! I’m glad you liked the recipe!
Jill says
Very tasty & easy! I cooked them for 22 minutes & should have gone another 4-5 minutes. I have a lot of walnuts to use, so will try again!
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thank you for your comment, Jill! I’m glad you liked the muffins!
June says
Hi dear, I would love to try your recipe. One question, is it baking soda or baking powder I need to use?
MyKitchenSerenity says
Hi June. It's baking soda. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!
Barb Redzinski says
Excellent recipe. Will definitely make again.
Marilyn McCormick says
I was looking for a recipe to use up more of my bag of dried fruit (apple, date, walnut mix) so I used your recipe and used 1/2 cup dried fruit mix chopped and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. The muffins turned out very moist and very banana flavored. from the three bananas. This is a delicious , versatile recipe. I have a lot of frozen blueberries, so I might add them next time. We have to use up what we have, don't we!
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thank you for your comment, Marilyn! I love your additions to the recipe. Sounds delicious!
Jasmine F says
I decided on a whim to make banana nut muffins for the first time during this time at home. I have to say, this recipe was so easy!!! I love that I can put everything in my stand mixer without separating ingredients . They are awesome with the walnuts on top and so moist. I made some cinnamon butter to place on top and it is divine!
MyKitchenSerenity says
This makes me so happy, Jasmine! I’m so glad you liked the muffins. Thank you for your comment. Cinnamon butter sounds amazing, too.
Kristine says
Best muffins I’ve made, I used gluten free flour instead of regular flour and used 3/4 cup of coconut sugar instead of brown/white sugars. Turned out great! Thanks for recipe.
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thank you so much for your comment, Kristine. I'm happy you liked the recipe! Thank you for letting me know about the GF flour and coconut sugar, too.
Swaran Hingorani says
Great idea I also don't have vanilla will use honey instead ..and give it a try
Ethel Sng says
Such an easy yet tasty recipe. Substituted vanilla (cuz I didn’t have any) with honey and cut on the sugars and it’s awesome too!
Gigi says
Didn’t have 3 bananas, just one, substituted the other two for two cups of applesauce and they turned out perfect!
Yola says
First time making these today. They are great. They don’t crumble, they’re moist and full of flavor. Thx
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thanks for your nice comment, Yola! I'm happy you liked them 🙂
Ulanka says
I made it. I was out of whole milk and used coconut milk . Additionally I added strawberries. They came out great.
MyKitchenSerenity says
Great idea with the coconut milk & strawberries, Ulanka! Glad you liked the recipe!
Emily says
LOVE these muffins! So good, and a great use of all the overripe bananas that seem to collect in my freezer. Husband ate the walnuts that were designated for my second batch, so I added 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg, 1/3 cup of oatmeal (just for texture really), and a cup of mini chocolate chips. Turned out beautifully both with walnuts and with my alterations! They barely made it out of the oven before hubby was into them! YUMMM!
MyKitchenSerenity says
Hi Emily! Thanks for your comment. I’m so glad you and your husband liked the muffins! The addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, oatmeal, and chocolate chips sounds scrumptious! I’ll have to try it one day. Take care 🙂
Denise says
Love the reciepe easy and so tasty and moist. Would definitely use again. I used a gas oven so had to add 10 min to cooking time.
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thank you so much for letting me know, Denise! I appreciate your comment and rating!
Dave says
My new favorite banana muffin / banana bread recipe . Have made the muffins as directed, plus I have doubled the recipe and made 2 banana bread loaves. Increased the cooking time on the loaves to 65 minutes.
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thank you so much for your comment, Dave! I’m glad you like the recipe. Thanks for the info about the loaves.
Bunnie says
The BEST Banana Walnut Muffins ever. Moist and full of flavor
MyKitchenSerenity says
Thank you for your comment and rating, Bunnie! I'm very happy you liked the muffins! Have a great rest of the day!