Get ready to sink your teeth into soft, fluffy, and moist banana nut muffins. You’ll love the crackly-crunchy brown sugar topping that makes these muffins extra delicious! Check out the hundreds of 5-start reviews – this recipe is a winner!
We took our all-time favorite easy banana bread and turned it into the best banana nut muffins. We love this recipe so much that we even used it for our blueberry banana muffins and banana chocolate chip muffins!
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These muffins are
Fluffy and moist: These muffins get the perfect soft texture from a combination of melted butter and lots of mashed bananas.
Quick and easy: The muffin batter comes together in minutes. No special equipment needed.
Flavorful: The perfect combination of bananas, sweet brown sugar, and fragrant vanilla.
Packed with bananas: Two whole cups of mashed bananas!
Always met with rave reviews: This recipe is a reader favorite and family favorite.
Key ingredients
The following ingredients are essential to making these muffins the best:
Bananas: Use 3-4 overripe bananas to make this bread sweet, moist, and undeniably banana-flavored.
Brown sugar: The only sugar used in these muffins is brown sugar. It is in the batter and it gets sprinkled on top before baking. The brown sugar gives the bread a deeper flavor and almost caramel-like sweetness. Plus, brown sugar and bananas are a fantastic flavor combo.
Topping: Each muffin is topped with a sprinkling of brown sugar and chopped walnuts. This adds a delicate sweet and crunchy layer right on top of each muffin.
Recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Whisk melted butter and brown sugar.
Add eggs, vanilla, and mashed banana.
Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.
Stir in the chopped nuts.
Scoop the batter into a muffin pan and sprinkle the top of each muffin with brown sugar and chopped nuts.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
Tips: Baking with bananas
It’s important that you use overripe bananas. The skin of the bananas should have brown speckles or even be turning dark brownish-black. This ensures that the bananas mash smoothly and are extra sweet.
You will need 3-4 large bananas for this recipe.
Mash the bananas using a fork or potato masher.
I mash the bananas on a paper plate then fold the plate to slide the mashed banana into the measuring cup.
Recipe tips
- The more ripe your bananas are, the sweeter they’ll be.
- 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. Walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts are all delicious. Feel free to use a combination of nuts.
- Top these muffins with salted butter, honey butter or maple butter to make them extra tasty.
How to make this recipe healthier
Prefer your muffins a bit more wholesome? I have successfully made the following changes:
- Reduce the brown sugar to ½ cup (in the batter). I still recommend sprinkling brown sugar on top.
- Swap the melted butter for melted coconut oil or mild olive oil.
- Reduce the melted butter/oil to 6 tablespoons.
- Swap ¾ cup of the all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour.
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.
These are best served warm. I reheat them in the microwave or toaster oven and serve with a smear of salted butter.
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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
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, or swap for macadamia nuts, pecans, or hazelnuts
Topping:
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- 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 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
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!
Dianne Ortman
I have made these muffins twice now and they come out absolutely amazing…love love them and I use pecans and add a little coconut and a little chocolate chips..perfect
Allison
That’s great to hear! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Anika
This recipe is so delicious. The muffins are banana-y and the topping is like the icing on the cake. Definitely make this recipe!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Tacey McCall
Can I use salted butter? What would it do if I did?
Allison
Sure, just reduce the added salt by half. Enjoy!
mindy
Delish!!! Love the brown sugar topping!
Allison
Me too! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Melinda
Absolutely love this recipe!! It’s my go to for Banana muffins. Incredibly moist and tasty with very little added sugar. Have used Walnuts and pecans. Both awesome!
Allison
That’s great to hear. Thanks for stopping by!
Katy
Just made these and they are super good. I followed the recipe and steps exactly as written and wasn’t disappointed. I will definitely be making again!!
Allison
I’m so glad! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Gina
The best, the very best banana nut muffins ever. I make them for my daughter every week. She works from home and they are her “go to”breakfast!
Allison
I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Bernard Alvares
Your recipe is a keeper and one for the ages. The muffins are delectably moist and the the walnut topping (minus the brown sugar) are the confetti crunch!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Angie
I made these today and they were so good! I used pecans in the batter and walnuts on top. I also made a few with mini chocolate chips. They definitely had a great banana flavor. This will be my go to recipes from now on. 💛
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Cindy
Tried them this morning . It took more like 20 minutes to cook but the muffins were large, not average. Delicious!
The brown sugar IS the key!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂