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!"
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.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and brown sugar. Blend with a whisk.
- 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. 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.
Ellen
Would these work with almond milk?
Anne Clark
Hi Ellen! I’ve had people tell me that almond milk works fine. Also coconut milk works good, too. Thanks for asking 🙂
Terry
Love the recipe! Turned out great. I will add a 1/3 cup of white sugar next time as i like mine just a little sweeter.
Anne Clark
I'm happy you liked the muffins, Terry! I love how you made these muffins "your own"! Thank you so much for leaving a comment!
Whitney
Can you use the same recipe for mini muffins? How many, and temp/cook time?
Anne Clark
Hi Whitney. If you use mini muffin pan, you'd bake at the same temperature but for less time...aim for 10-13 minutes but keep checking on them to make sure they aren't overbaked. You should get *about* 36 mini muffins.
Kelsey
I love these muffins!!! This is my go-to recipe for banana muffins. I usually do half walnuts half semi sweet chocolate chips. ❤️
Anne Clark
Hey Kelsey! I love half walnuts and half chocolate chips! I’m so happy you like the muffins; thank you for leaving a comment 🙂
Carmelle Lebel Devost
Hi there, I have a little dilemma here! I made these muffins and I'm not sure they turned out the way they're supposed to.
They were on the dry side and I was so mad at how they turned out.
But now there's one thing I need to ask you. I have a bag of Robin Hood all purpose original flour that I hadn't even opened yet. I purchased it in 2019. The bag hadn't even been opened yet, so what I need to know is, does it lose its strength? Or should I just start with a new fresh bag to do more baking.
Anne Clark
Hey Carmelle, I'm sorry the muffins didn't turn out right. When muffins turn out dry, it's usually because the batter was overmixed, full fat butter wasn't used, and/or the muffins were overbaked. As far as the Robin Hood flour you purchased in 2019, I recommend throwing it out and buying a fresh new bag of flour.
Kaitlynn
The best banana nut muffin recipe I’ve found! We make it any time we have bananas leftover that get too ripe to eat. My family is dairy and gluten free, and I’ve managed to make all the substitutions for that and they still turn out amazing. My whole family loves them. Highly recommend!
Anne Clark
This makes me so happy, Kaitlynn! Thank you for leaving a comment and 5 stars!
Roxana
I just made these banana nut muffins and turned great!
Anne Clark
You just made my day, Roxana! I'm so happy you liked them...thank you so much for leaving me a comment and rating 🙂