Banana Bread Muffins
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Banana bread muffins are moist, fluffy and filled with big banana flavor. Brown sugar, bananas, vanilla and a hint of cinnamon make these muffins delicious. Then adding sour cream makes them tender and moist. It’s an easy, no mixer recipe that makes perfect banana muffins every time.
**This post was updated November 2, 2024 with new photos and recipe tips**
Do you love banana bread? If yes (who doesn’t????) – then these banana bread muffins are definitely for you. They’re oh so moist and packed with flavor thanks to the bananas, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
The muffin batter comes together quickly and easily (no mixer required), and compared to making classic banana bread, the bake time isn’t long. Most banana breads need at least 50 minutes in the oven baking, but the bake time for these muffins under 20 minutes. So you end up with all the flavor of banana bread – but they’re ready to enjoy in way less time.
How to Make Moist Banana Bread Muffins
Making banana bread muffins is really simple. To make the muffin batter:
- Start by preheating the oven to 400F (200C) and lining your muffin pan with muffin papers. Alternatively, you can lightly grease and flour the pan, or just lightly grease the pan if using a silicon muffin pan.
- Yes – the oven temperature is hot! More on that below.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & cinnamon. I found using a combo of baking soda and baking powder made the muffins rise perfectly. Then the cinnamon really adds flavor.
- Then in a separate bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla extract, and sour cream. Stop whisking when you no longer see lumps of brown sugar or pieces of egg. We’re using 1/2 cup packed brown sugar in addition to 1/2 cup white sugar to add more flavor to the muffins. The sour cream is key for super moist muffins
- Then whisk the mashed banana into the butter mixture. If you see banana lumps, that’s OK.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, then pour the wet ingredients into the well.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- When it’s almost incorporated, stir in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Optional – but recommended.
- Then scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan. You’ll fill the muffin papers to the top. You’ll end up with 12-14 muffins in total.
Baking the Muffins
For extra tall muffins, make sure to fill your muffin liners to the very top. Then we bake them for 5 minutes at 400F (200C) degrees followed by about 10 minutes at 375F (190C) which makes them rise nicely and have golden edges. *You don’t need to remove your muffins from the oven in between – just let them continue to happily bake.*
If you’re worried that your oven’s temperature won’t adjust quickly enough down to 375F – then I recommend baking your muffins at 375F (190C) for the entire time. They’ll need about 18-20 minutes to bake.
These banana bread muffins are perfect for breakfast, coffee time, or a mid-afternoon snack. And if you’re still on the fence – here’s the recap:
- Big on flavor thanks to bananas, brown sugar, cinnamon & vanilla
- Extra moist
- Perfectly tender and soft
- Sky-high muffin tops
- From start to finish, ready in under 30 minutes
If you love these banana bread muffins, make sure to try these other favorites too:
- Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Classic Banana Bread
- Light and Fluffy Banana Pancakes
Banana Bread Muffins
Equipment
- 12-cavity muffin pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup white sugar (100 grams)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (105 grams), see recipe notes for less sweet muffins
- 1/2 cup butter (112 grams), melted
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sour cream*, room temperature
- 3 medium large brown bananas*, mashed, or 4 smaller bananas – it should be about 1 1/3 cups mashed
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F (200C) degrees and line a muffin pan with papers.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract.
- Whisk the mashed bananas into the butter mixture.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the bowl.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do this by hand (not an electric mixer)
- Gently fold in the chopped walnuts.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each muffin paper to the top. You should end up with 12-14 muffins in total.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 400F (200C) degrees. Without removing the pan from the oven, turn the oven down to 375F (190C) and continue baking for 10-12 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
- Sugars: For less sweet muffins, use 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream can be replaced with plain Greek yogurt.
- Bananas: 3 large bananas should be about 1 1/3 cups mashed.
- Oven Temperature: If you’re concerned that your oven temperature won’t adjust quickly enough after turning it down to 375F (190C) – then I recommend baking the muffins at 375F (180C) for the entire time. They’ll need about 18-20 minutes to bake.
- Storage: Muffins are best enjoyed the same day that they’re baked. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Baked and cooled muffins can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge.
Pretty awesome recipe and easy to follow instructions. Just made theses banana muffins and they turned out super moist and yummy ❣️ Thank you for a time well spent in the kitchen 👍
Fiona! I found this recipe and made these yummy muffins! Then I realized I’ve taken your yoga classes at Modo! Such a small world.
These were awesome!! I substituted whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt for the white flour and sour cream. They came out light and fluffy. This recipe is a keeper.
These were so good we made two batches in less than a week! In the first batch we made the muffins following the directions except we added chocolate chips in half of them. The 2nd batch we made mini muffins and added pecans on half. The other half we split between regular banana muffins and chocolate chip banana muffins. This recipe hit the spot! Thank you! Have you ever tried freezing them?
Yum! Came out delicious!
Not too bad. In my opinion it needs to be sweeter. I’d double the brown sugar if I made them again.
I love all things banana and have made these numerous times. They are always a hit and go quickly!
These just came out of the oven and are amazing. I only made half a batch for 3 of us but will make the entire batch next time. I’m sure they would freeze well if there are any leftover. Yum!
Yummo!! I just made these today and they are delicious. I am trying to get ahead with my baking and freezing for when my son and his girlfriend come home for spring break in a few weeks. I froze most of these babies, but had to hang on to a few because they are so good. Only change I made was substituting mini chocolate chips for the walnuts because they don’t like walnuts. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Your pumpkin white chocolate chip are still my family’s favorite, but these are a close second. Thanks for sharing Fiona.
Vicki
I’m so glad you loved the muffins – I think adding chocolate chips is always a good idea! Enjoy your time with your son 🙂
Pretty amazing you can make these muffins without a mixer! love that…plus the came out looking amazing, i love banana bread, and great idea using your older bananas to make these muffins
Thanks so much Albert!