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!
Meagan says
Absolutely perfect muffins! Finally felt like I was making the real deal!
The ample toppings really satisfied me. I felt no regrets not having muffin papers as so moist!
I only put nuts on half for those who don’t love them as much as I.
Made a delicious optional cream cheese frosting for perfection: simply beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla.
Thanks for sharing this receipt!!
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂 Happy baking! -Allison
Misty Seale says
These were the best banana nut muffins that I have ever eaten!!
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m so glad! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Terri Armitage says
Super good!! Topped with the brown sugar and granola, and left the walnuts on the inside.
Terri Armitage says
Oh, and I used brown butter ??
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Sheli T. says
Best Banana Nut Muffins I’ve ever made or eaten! Absolutely delicious! Saving and sharing this recipe.
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Veronica says
These are fabulous! However, I used 12 greased muffin tins and filled them almost to the top edge to get bigger muffins.
To get bigger tops on our muffins another website suggests baking the muffins at 425 for 6-8 min. then immediately reduce heat to 350 for about another 12 min.. Watch carefully and check with toothpick.
Also I discovered, after experimenting with several batches, you get bigger muffins using a darkened old muffin pan than you do if you use paper baking cups or foil baking cups, even using the same amount of batter.
I have a Hamilton Beach counter top convection oven. I tried the muffins on bake (convection fan is off) and on convection (convection fan is on). I think they came out better with the convection fan on.
I shared and everyone else loved them too.
Second time around I didn’t have enough bananas in the freezer so I topped off with carrot pulp (from juicing) that I also had in the freezer. So about 1 1/2cups banana + 1/2 cup carrot pulp.
I also added 1/4 tsp of nutmeg with 1 tsp of cinnamon. I was out of butter (we are in the middle of COV19) so I used 1/2 cup of vegetable oil.
I did not put walnuts in the batter but did the walnut/brown sugar topping but added another tsp of cinnamon to the topping mix .They came out great! Moist, cinnamon-y and not too sweet.
I think it’s the brown sugar in the recipe that makes them so good. I grew up making banana bread with shortening and white sugar. This is SO MUCH better!
Thank you so much for this recipe. My son wants my banana bread recipe but I’m going to give him yours instead.
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing your experience. Happy baking! 🙂 -Allison
Lizette says
This is the best banana nut muffin i’ve ever had! Thank you for sharing your recipe. Five stars!!
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Wanda says
These are the most deliciously moist muffins that i have ever made. The house smells magnificent when they are baking. So much so that my boys were eagerly waiting for them to come out of The oven. 🙂
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Caroline says
This the recipe was so easy to follow and most ingredients were already in my pantry. The final product was delicious and I will be making these muffins again and again!
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Christina Hernandez says
Just made this amazing recipe. I love that its not overly sweet like other muffins, just the right amount of sweetness. We also used pecans cuz of an allergy to walnuts. This is hands down the best recipe ever.
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Emily says
Made these today with my kids (5 and 3) as part of our school “science experiment” ? and the fact that I had a bunch of bananas that were starting to show their “spots”, and these are by far the BEST banana nut muffins I have ever made. Super moist and not exceedingly sweet, just perfect. I hope some will actually last until breakfast tomorrow morning!
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂