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.
How to make banana nut muffins
*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.
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.
Optional ingredient swaps
Prefer your muffins a bit more wholesome? You can make 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.
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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!
Carla says
Excellent 5 stars
Allison says
Thank you!
Damien says
I have made this recipe a few times, and it was absolutely excellent.
I decided to make again tonight since I had bananas ready to go.
The only problem was I didn’t have vanilla or walnuts.
So, I substituted burbon for the vanilla and chocolate chips for the nuts because we all know chocolate and banana is amazing.
Not saying you should change the recipe, but this was a pretty good alternative.
Allison says
That great to hear! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Kelly Gilmartin says
I always bake the same banana muffin recipe, which is good, but needed a change. This recipe was also super easy but the results were a thousand times better and everyone agreed!
Allison says
That’s great to hear! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Andi says
Took a few creative liberties by substituting the butter with shortening for my lactose intolerant boyfriend, adding a tablespoon of banana extract for fun, and having to use pumpkin pie spice since I was out of cinnamon, but other than that, I stayed pretty true to the recipe and they came out PERFECT. moist and fluffy 10/10 would recommend, but I kind of want to keep this recipe a secret haha
Allison says
Haha! I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Jerre Conner says
Awesome
Pam says
I made these this morning and they are the best banana nut muffins I ever had! They are perfect! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Allison says
You’re welcome! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
Carol says
Really good muffins. Had to quickly put them in the freezer so we wouldn’t eat them all. Is now my only banana walnut muffin recipe. Thank you!!!
Linda says
These are so delicious! The best banana muffins I ever made!! Followed your recipe exactly. So quick and easy. Thank you! 😋
Allison says
I’m so glad! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
Josie says
Ther were good a little dry but I noticed there’s no milk in this recipe was that in error
Allison Mattina says
Hi! Sorry to hear that. The recipe is correct as written. Were your bananas soft and overripe? That helps lend moisture to the recipe.
Jaymee Ramos says
Tried it out and they turned out perfect!
Allison says
I’m so glad! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Sonia Castellani says
Absolutely Delicious!!!! I only had two ripe bananas but I did have two ripe pears so I added those to make the two cups and they turned out wonderful. I also used a full cup of walnuts in the recipe – because I like nuts. Thank you for sharing your creation!!
Allison says
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂