We took our all-time favorite easy banana bread and turned it into the best banana nut muffins. These are soft, fluffy, and moist banana nut muffins with a crackly-crunchy brown sugar topping that makes these muffins extra delicious! Try our blueberry banana muffins, too!
“These muffins were out of this world delicious!! My neighbor thought so too. Best we’ve ever had. Definitely won’t ever be using any other recipe besides this one. Thank you so much!”
★★★★★
– Kim
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What sets this recipe apart
BROWN SUGAR: Brown sugar is the only sugar used in this recipe. It makes the muffins moist and imparts a deep, caramel-like sweetness.
TOPPING: A sprinkle of brown sugar and nuts on top of each muffin creates a crackly-crunchy topping that can’t be beat!
NUTS: Think beyond the typical walnuts that you see on a banana nut muffin. Try macadamia nuts, pecans, or hazelnuts for something different!
5-STAR REVIEWS: This recipe is a reader favorite with hundreds of 5-star reviews.
Visual recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Step 1
Whisk melted butter and brown sugar.
Step 2
Add eggs, vanilla, and mashed banana.
Step 3
Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Followed by chopped nuts.
Step 4
Scoop the batter into a muffin pan and sprinkle the top of each muffin with brown sugar and chopped nuts.
Step 5
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
Banana nut muffin ingredient swaps
Less sugar: Reduce the brown sugar to ½ cup (in the batter). I still recommend sprinkling brown sugar on top.
No butter: Swap the melted butter for melted coconut oil or mild olive oil.
Gluten free: Swap the all purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten free baking blend.
Whole grain: Swap ¾ cup of the all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour.
My recipe testing tips
Use overripe (brown speckled) bananas, they’ll be extra sweet!
Mash the bananas on a paper plate then fold the plate to slide the mashed banana into the measuring cup.
Your brown sugar should be fresh and soft. Since this is a key ingredient (used in both the topping and the batter), make sure it is fresh and moist.
Use your favorite nuts (or even a combination of nuts). Walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts are all delicious.
Top these muffins with salted butter, honey butter or maple butter to make them extra tasty.
Want a high dome? Check your oven temp! More on this below.
Technique: how to get a high dome on muffins
Oven temp
In order to get a nice dome on your muffins it is important that your oven is all the way up to temperature before adding the pan of muffins. The high heat activates the leavening agents leading to a better rise.
IMPORTANT: When your oven beeps that is preheated, it’s highly likely that it is NOT actually all the way up to temperature. I use an oven thermometer and wait until that indicates the temperature I’m looking for. Note: in my oven that often takes an additional 8 minutes or so.
Recipe
Banana Nut Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins:
- ½ cup unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed, make sure it is fresh and soft
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas , about 3-4 bananas
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour, fluff the flour, lightly scoop and level
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, or hazelnuts
Topping:
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, or hazelnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (see note).
- In a large bowl, whisk melted butter and ⅔ cup brown sugar until well combined, about 1 full minute. Add eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla, whisking until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to lightly stir the batter until almost combined. Add ½ cup chopped nuts and stir until no streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Grease or line 15 standard-sized muffin cups and divide the batter evenly among the cups. Sprinkle the top of the each cup with brown sugar and chopped walnuts (topping). Bake for 14-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool.
Video
Notes
Oven temp:
Make sure your oven is fully up to 350°F before adding the muffins (this helps with the rise). I use an oven thermometer and bake based on that temp, not the temp displayed on the oven itself.Serving and storage:
These muffins are best the day they are made; however, leftovers can be stored tightly-covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerated for several days longer. Serve warm, reheated in the microwave or toaster oven.Ingredient swaps:
See full post for several ingredient swaps including gluten free and reduced sugar.Half recipe:
Recipe can be halved. You’ll get 7-8 muffins, bake time will be about the same.Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Paula Graf says
The moistest muffins that I have ever had in my life! The toppings were a great compliment to the taste.
Amberlee Finch says
They turned out great and very easy to do
Allison says
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
Kc says
I made these today and they are amazing! Hubby and I can’t stop eating them!
Allison says
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Keith Davis says
I doubled the recipe to make 12 jumbo muffins. Absolutely perfect! Baked at 350 for 30 min.
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Heather says
These are so good!!! Very easy and so yummy. I had to increase the baking time for mine, but I think it’s because I ended up with a good bit more banana than I needed. The crunchy brown sugar topping is the best!
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Joy says
I don’t usually leave comments, but I just have to on this one. These muffins came out so delicious!!!! I decided to whip up a batch quickly as a treat for my husband. It was easy to make and just over the top good, especially with that crumb-like topping. I only had one large banana, but somehow it still worked well and was moist. My husband and I each had two and I had to put them away so we wouldn’t be tempted anymore lol. I will be adding this to my rotation for sure.
Allison says
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Brenda says
I like them but these were not sweet at all. I don’t care for really sweet treats but I even double checked recipe because I thought that I must have forgotten the white sugar, but there wasn’t. They were very moist but I would definitely add some sugar to this recipe.
Allison says
Hi, Brenda. There is 2/3 cup brown sugar in the muffins and another 1/4 cup sprinkled on top. Yes, if you left that out the muffins wouldn’t be very sweet. Also, brown sugar is white sugar with some molasses added to it. So, it’s as sweet or sweeter than white sugar. Feel free to give it a try with the sugar this time – many of my readers love this recipe. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Chenoa says
Really love this recipe!
Allison says
I’m so glad! Enjoy!
Rhonda says
Followed recipe exactly. Best banana nut muffins ever. My husband raved about them.
Allison says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
Ruth Gissinger says
Loved the flavor of these muffins. I will be making them again.
Allison says
I’m so glad! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Naomi says
I made these muffins for the first time the other day… with gluten free flour. They were AMAZING. I used toasted pecans.
I had only great feedback from the consumers of my muffins.
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Janet says
Hi, I’m wondering if I could add some of my juicing pulp (carrot and apple) for some added fiber and how that would affect the moisture of these? Love the topping!
Allison says
I’m really not sure, I’ve never tried that before. You can try using it in these muffins, it would be a easier swap: Healthy Pumpkin Carrot Apple Muffins