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Updated on Feb 29, 2024
These Healthy Banana Muffins are soft, fluffy and naturally sweetened with ripe bananas and honey. They’re perfect for breakfast or a snack.
Looking for more ways to use up ripe bananas? You’ll love this Healthy Banana Bread and Strawberry Banana Smoothie!
The Best Healthy Banana Muffins
These healthy banana muffins are my all-time favorite muffin recipe! I’ve been baking a batch of these muffins multiple times a month for years, and they are always devoured in record time. My kids love them in their lunchboxes, and I like to enjoy one for a mid-morning snack with a cup of tea. I hope you’ll love these banana muffins as much as we do!
Why I Love This Recipe
- So Delicious. Spiced with cinnamon, the muffins have lots of sweet banana flavor and they bake up soft and fluffy.
- Wholesome Ingredients. I love that this recipe uses whole wheat flour and honey or pure maple syrup instead of refined sugars.
- Regular Size or Mini Muffins. Make regular size muffins or mini muffins in a mini muffin pan. The mini muffins are perfect for lunchboxes.
- They Freeze Wonderfully. I like to make a double batch to stock my freezer.
- One Bowl Recipe. This recipe is incredibly easy! It takes just a few minutes to mix up the batter in one bowl.
- Great Way to Use Ripe Bananas. If you’re like me, you often have a few over-ripe bananas sitting on your kitchen counter. This recipe is my favorite way to use them up!
Muffins are sooooo moist and delicious! Will make again and again.
Judy
Tip: Use Very Ripe Bananas
The secret to making the best banana muffins is to use extra-ripe bananas, ones that have lots of brown spots on the peels. Very ripe bananas will be nice and soft and extra sweet, perfect for baking. If you don’t have time to bake with your ripe bananas right away, you can freeze them. When you’re ready to bake, thaw the bananas on your kitchen counter, drain off excess moisture and use them in your recipe.
Healthy Banana Muffins Recipe Ingredients
- Butter: You can’t beat the flavor that real butter brings to baked goods. In this recipe, we’re using just 4 tablespoons of butter.
- Honey or Pure Maple Syrup: To sweeten the muffins.
- Ripe Bananas: The riper, the better!
- Milk: I use whole milk. Use whatever type you prefer: lowfat milk or nondairy milk such as almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk or oat milk.
- Vanilla Extract: For added flavor.
- Eggs: Two large eggs provide structure and help the muffins to rise.
- Cinnamon: For warm spice.
- Baking Soda: To help the muffins rise as they bake.
- Salt: The salt enhances all of the flavors.
- Whole Wheat Flour: I like to use white whole wheat flour because it has a more mild wheat flavor, but regular whole wheat works well too. You can also use all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand.
Find the full printable recipe with ingredient amounts in the recipe card below.
How to Make Banana Muffins
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, honey or maple syrup, mashed banana, milk and vanilla. Then whisk in the eggs.
- Add the dry ingredients. Sprinkle the cinnamon, baking soda and salt over the wet ingredients. Whisk until very well combined. You don’t want any clumps of baking soda left in the batter. Finally, add the flour and mix it in with a rubber spatula until just combined, being careful to not over-mix. Overmixing can lead to dense, tough muffins.
- Scoop the batter into the pan. I use a nonstick muffin pan and lightly spray it with coconut oil spray before adding the muffin batter to the pan. You can sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a little ground cinnamon for more cinnamon flavor, if desired.
- Bake the muffins at 350 degrees F. Regular sized muffins will take about 15-17 minutes to bake, and mini muffins will take 10-12 minutes.
- Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. The muffins are delicious served warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Variations
- Add nuts: Mix up to 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans into the muffin batter.
- Add chocolate chips: Add 1/2 cup of regular or mini chocolate chips to the batter.
- Add blueberries: Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Swap applesauce for the butter: Readers have substituted applesauce for the butter with good success.
- Gluten-free: Readers have successfully substituted a 1:1 gluten free flour blend for the wheat flour.
- Egg-free: I’ve made this recipe with flax eggs instead of regular eggs and it works well. Instead of the 2 large eggs, stir together 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal and 5 tablespoons of water. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes before adding to the wet ingredients.
Storage Tips
- To Store: Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To Freeze: Once cool, store muffins in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, overnight in the refrigerator, or using the defrost setting of a microwave. You can put frozen muffins in lunchboxes and they will thaw by lunchtime.
More Banana Muffin Recipes
- Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
- Apple Banana Muffins
- Blender Banana Muffins
Looking for even more healthy muffin recipes? Try Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, Chocolate Chip Muffins or Pumpkin Muffins next.
5 from 79 ratings
Healthy Banana Muffins
Servings: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 30 minutes mins
These Healthy Banana Muffins are soft, fluffy, full of banana flavor and spiced with cinnamon. This easy one bowl recipe is quick to make and can be used to make regular sized or mini muffins. The muffins freeze wonderfully, too!
Print Recipe Leave a Review Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup honey, or pure maple syrup
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana, about 3 medium
- ¼ cup milk, whichever kind you prefer (dairy, almond, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling muffin tops if desired
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour, or regular whole wheat flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper liners. (I use a nonstick muffin pan and lightly spray it with coconut oil spray.)
Place the butter in a large bowl and melt in the microwave. Add the honey or maple syrup, mashed banana, milk and vanilla to the bowl. Whisk to combine. Whisk in the eggs.
Sprinkle the cinnamon, baking soda and salt over the wet ingredients. Whisk until well combined. Add the flour to the bowl and stir with a large spoon or spatula until just combined. Be careful to not over-mix.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each well about 2/3 full.
Optional: Sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. (Mini muffins will take about 10-12 minutes to bake.)
Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Recipe makes 12 regular sized muffins or 36 mini muffins.
- To Store: Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Muffins freeze well. Cool completely and then store in an airtight zip-top bag for up to 3 months. Thaw individual muffins at room temperature, overnight in the refrigerator, or in a microwave using the defrost setting.
- Recipe Variations:
- Add nuts:Mix up to 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans into the muffin batter.
- Add chocolate chips: Add 1/2 cup of regular or mini chocolate chips to the batter.
- Add blueberries:Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Swap applesauce for the butter: Readers have tried this with good success.
- Gluten-free:Readers have successfully substituted a 1:1 gluten free flour blend for the wheat flour.
- Egg-free: I’ve made this recipe with flax eggs instead of regular eggs and it works well. Instead of the 2 large eggs, stir together 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal and 5 tablespoons of water. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes before adding to the wet ingredients.
Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 144kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 38mg, Sodium: 202mg, Potassium: 109mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 177IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is an estimate.
Cuisine: American
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Tried this recipe?Mention @kristines_kitchen on Instagram or tag #kristineskitchenblog.
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posted by Kristine Rosenblatt on Feb 29, 2024
223 comments Leave a comment »
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223 comments on “Healthy Banana Muffins”
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Kim — Reply
Super good and nice it’s pretty healthy! Good texture, too! Thank you!!!
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Mary — Reply
Didn’t find the mixture was quite enough for 12 muffins, I only managed to fill 10 cases and even then they didn’t rise to full capacity. Maybe UK muffin cases are different size.
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Shelby — Reply
This was delicious! I had no butter so I used equal amounts applesauce as well. The muffins were super soft and had a good flavor. I had enough for thirteen muffins, so I fried the leftover batter up as a pancake. Super good!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing how to applesauce substitute worked. 🙂
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Maryse Beeney — Reply
I came to the comments to see if anyone had subbed applesauce for butter. Glad it turned out ok. Trying it now
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Marny — Reply
These are delicious! So nice to know I’m eating relatively healthily while still enjoying muffins! I added a half cup of chopped pecans, & might try adding in some dried fruit next time. Thank you so much!
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Lizzy — Reply
I tried these muffins when I was looking for a healthy, sweet snack. I substituted the white flower with wheat and they were delicious!!! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!! The muffins were moist, sweet, and nutritional 🙂
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Brenda — Reply
These muffins were so easy to make and a big favorite with the whole family. The second batch I made I added raisins, they were also a big hit…..thank you for the recipe! ?
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Olivia — Reply
Awesome recipe! Super quick to whip up this morning for breakfast and use up my overripe bananas. I used a cup of white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat. They rose really nicely and had a great texture. My husband and my 1 year old both LOVED them! I’ll definitely be making a double batch to stock my freezer next time!
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Fanny — Reply
They are so easy to make and taste delicious. My two kids (6 and 3 years old) loved them.
I added a few chocolate chips on top for extra sweetness…-
Sandraley mendez — Reply
Can you add Raisins?
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Kristine Rosenblatt —
Yes, raisins might be good in this recipe.
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Mary C — Reply
These muffins are delicious quick and healthy. Thanks
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Sheri — Reply
Can I use regular white flour?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Yes, that will work fine. Enjoy the muffins!
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Silvia — Reply
These muffins were great and I loved how quickly they came together. I don’t like cinnamon so my only change to the recipe was to not add any cinnamon and I didn’t think they missed anything. I will definitely make them again!
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Kate — Reply
I like to use freshly milled whole wheat flour instead of store bought whole wheat as it is more nutritious and less processed.
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Kayla — Reply
These are great! I wanted a healthier banana bread option so my 10 month old could enjoy with us, used 2 tbsp of maple syrup instead of 1/3 cup and kept everything else the same- they’re perfect! Thank you for a lovely and easy recipe!
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Sherry — Reply
These muffins are delicious! My husband loves them and I love just using one bowl! Looking forward to trying your apple banana muffins! ?
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Sonya — Reply
I made these for my family yesterday morning and everyone loved it! My family had eaten all of them by the time I went for seconds! I’m going to make them again today or tomorrow, and was wondering if I made a double batch if I could freeze some of the batter? These are definitely a new family favorite. Thank you!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Sonya,
I’m so glad your family enjoyed these! The baked muffins freeze well, but I don’t recommend freezing the batter.
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Ren — Reply
Will I be able to use this recipe to make banana bread or can I only use it to make muffins? The muffins look super yummy and am excited to bake this!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Ren,
Try my healthy banana bread recipe if you want to make banana bread instead of muffins.
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Hailey — Reply
Yummy! I made 20 muffins but probably cause o didn’t fill up all the way. So delicious. Should I store these in the fridge or countertop?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
You can store them on the counter for 2-3 days, or in the refrigerator for about 5 days. They also freeze well!
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Barb — Reply
Great muffins
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Lisa Prestidge — Reply
What is kcal?? Is it the same as calories one to one??? If not how many calories per muffin???
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
What we refer to as Calories are technically kcal. So the estimated kcal in this recipe is the number of Calories per muffin.
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Kate — Reply
This muffins are actually delicious!!
I substituted 4 T of butter to 3 T olive oil, and they tasted delicious and of course healthier:)
Thanks for the recpie -
K B — Reply
Can you stub GF flour to make it allergen friendly?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
While I haven’t tried it myself, I think you could use a gluten free 1:1 baking flour.
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A — Reply
I made a double batch of these today
and they turned out great. I found that the cook time was more like 17-18 minutes. One thing to point out: based on the level of ripeness and size of the bananas, the cook time and yield will vary slightly. I just set my timer to go off two minutes earlier than the recipe. I checked and added two minutes. Then two more. Then perfect! -
Victoria Hetland — Reply
I love this recipe because it is easy it only takes about twenty five minutes and they taste great.This recipe also has no sugar!it also gives you options so if you don’t h ave one of the ingredients you can use a different ingredient and it will still taste great.
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Karen — Reply
I have a major complaint about these muffins. I can’t stop eating them!!! I haven’t been this pleased with a recipe in a long time — they’re absolutely delicious and were so quick and easy to make. By the way, I found myself with only one egg in the house, so I used a 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt instead, and they came out perfect. I can’t say enough about them — thank you!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Karen,
You had me worried there for a minute! 😉 Thanks for sharing about the Greek yogurt sub. I’m so glad you enjoyed these muffins!
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Full Life Cooking — Reply
Do you think this is a recipe/ has any one added protein powder to this recipe? If so, did you change anything? Any recommendations on flavor?
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Judy — Reply
Muffins are sooooo moist and delicious! Will make again and again.
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Meagan — Reply
I doubled the recipe and made jumbo muffins. Absolutely delicious
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Mary — Reply
I made these instead of traditional muffins that have sugar, I used the honey, which I would rather from the farm, adding cinnamon is a great idea. Love cinnamon took longer to cook in my new oven about 25 minutes great recipe!
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Bonnie — Reply
Can I use oat bran instead of whole wheat flour?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I haven’t tried this recipe with oat bran so can’t advise. If you decide to try it, let me know how the muffins turn out. 🙂
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Glenn — Reply
Can you use coconut oil instead of butter?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Yes, you can. Enjoy!
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Linda — Reply
Love these!
Love that they’re so easy to make.
Love that they’re not too sweet.
Made an even dozen using two large bananas.
A keeper for sure. -
Claire Whittington — Reply
These muffins are great and a wonderful snack for my toddler. I used paper liners and baked mine at 350 for 17 mins. All my muffins stuck to the liners. Is there a way to prevent them from sticking?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! Instead of using paper liners, I use a nonstick muffin pan (I love USA pans) or spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. If you want to use a liner, parchment paper liners are best for nonstick.
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Kate — Reply
So GOOD! Thank you!! Thaey came out perfectly the first go 😊
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Dale Sawyer — Reply
Super easy delicious muffins! I only had regular flour, was out of vanilla extract so just put a little extra honey and they were amazing!
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Melissa — Reply
These were really good and not dry. I thought the cinnamon would be overpowering but it wasn’t at all & these were perfectly sweetened . I didn’t have whole wheat white, so I used 1.25 C white & 1/4c ground flax seed & they came out perfect. I will have these on my family’s muffin rotation. Thanks for sharing these!
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Vicky Kalavritinos — Reply
Super soft and yummy. Husband and 6 year old son loved them as well.
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Denea — Reply
For those with egg allergies- I totally goofed and forgot to put in the eggs and they still turned out great! I also doubled the cinnamon because I love cinnamon and have no regrets 🙂 Definitely going to make these again and put in the eggs (haha!)
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Mel — Reply
These are delicious 😋
Although I took them to the next level accidentally but using one cup of flour and half a cup of almond meal as I had run out of flour… best mistake I ever made!
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Megan Caroline — Reply
These are easy to make but have very little flavor unfortunately.
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I’m sorry that was your experience. These will be the sweetest and most flavorful if you use very ripe bananas. Also double check that you added the salt – I’ve made the mistake of forgetting it in baking recipes before and it causes the baked goods to turn out flavorless. I’m confident in this recipe, since it’s one I’ve made dozens of times for my own family.
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Ms Lisa — Reply
Just made this recipe with the help
Of one of my daycare boys. Sooo delicious! It was easy and the children loved them. Will make again soon in my solar cooker to keep from turning oven on.🥵 -
Ms Lisa — Reply
I forgot to mention that I used date syrup as the sweetener and carob chips. So delicious! I plan to experiment with different kinds of baking flour.
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Kate — Reply
My kids just gobbled these up. Nice to have a change and use honey instead of sugar.
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Maria Strampic — Reply
What a beautiful banana muffins, easy to make and very tasty 😋
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Amanda — Reply
These turned out great! I made 24 mini muffins and had a small amount left for a couple of big muffins. My kiddos loved them! I will make them again for sure! Thanks for sharing!
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Abbie — Reply
I have tried countless recipes for ‘healthy muffins’ and these are by far the best! They taste just as yummy as regular banana muffins, I found mine didn’t go as golden on top as regular ones, but that’s just for aesthetic appeal. I added dark chocolate chips to mine and they were amazing! Highly recommend x
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•person• — Reply
So quick and easy, minimal mess and absolutely delicious (and they’re sugar free!!) Mine came out a bit dense and more like a thick pancake but it still tasted amazing so we’re fine. Thank you so much!!
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Zoe — Reply
Can you use self raising flour I don’t have any plain ?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Self rising flour contains baking powder so I don’t recommend using it in this recipe since the recipe doesn’t call for baking powder.
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Jessica — Reply
I made these using gluten free flour instead and they still worked out incredible.
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Sunalini — Reply
They came out very nice. My children loved them and they tasted even better the next day – I live in hot humid climate. I got 12 mini muffins and a sort of sheet cake in a loaf tin
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Iuliana Raluca Rinjeu — Reply
I put some oil so it doesn’t stick to the paper tray
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Anabel Solorio — Reply
They came out beautiful. Didn’t have butter so I used apple sauce
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Connie Hart — Reply
Can I substitute gluten free flour for the white whole wheat flour?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Try substituting a 1:1 gluten free blend and let me know how it turns out!
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Christina — Reply
These muffins were delicious! I will be making these again and again. Thank you for the recipe!
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Caitlin T — Reply
I have made this recipe many times and love the texture and flavor. However, there have been a few batches I’ve made that I’ll bite in to them and get a super bitter, metallic taste. Has anyone experienced this? I’m wondering if I’m not mixing in my baking soda enough (although I’ve tried to pay attention to it!). Any thoughts would be appreciated!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Caitlin,
So glad you’re enjoying these! I think you’re probably right about the taste being from a clump of baking soda. You can always turn this into a two bowl recipe, where you whisk together the dry ingredients separately and then add them to the wet ingredients to see if that will help. 🙂
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SaShoe — Reply
7000 ft elevation, muffin parchment and I added ½ cup of chocolate chips. I used 1/3 cup to scoop into large size muffin tin. I got 6 med/large muffins. Needed 5 more minutes.
Side bar: I would recommend you put all dry ingredients together because it did not combine all the way. I have chunks of baking powder that are baked in place. I’m going to try that next time!
Can you reduce the pop ups? They are really intense and made it difficult to just get the recipe (on my phone). I kept getting sent to sites when trying to scoot up and down the ingredients and recipe.
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Susan — Reply
Just made these and they were great. I used milled whole wheat flour & added some chopped walnuts. My only problem is I need to double the batch next time.
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Adriel Helms — Reply
These are delicious! I used skim milk, egg substitute, and 1cup almond flour + 1/2 cup white flour. I also added a 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. They are so moist but not dense. Just heavenly. They will definitely be a staple at our house
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sarah — Reply
Can I use oat flour instead of regular flour?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Oat flour will not work with the recipe as written. You might try my blueberry oatmeal muffins.
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Candice Harrison — Reply
This recipe only made 9 muffins
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
It sounds like you made your muffins larger. If you have a regular sized muffin tin and divide the batter between the 12 wells, they won’t be filled to the top, but the muffins will rise when baking.
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Diana Grady — Reply
I made these this morning. Substituted the maple syrup for Monk Fruit. (Trying to get off the sugar). OMG these were so good. Will definitely be a go to recipe.
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Ana — Reply
Hi! This looks great! I am wondering if I can replace the maple syrup with granulated sugar? And keep it at 1/3 cup of sugar?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Yes, that should work. Honey also works great in this recipe. Enjoy!
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Hannah — Reply
Made these gluten free – added a little extra flour and did 3 parts GF flour blend and 1 part almond flour. Turned out nice! Thanks for the recipe!
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Laura — Reply
Made these on a whim! Only had two bananas and white unbleached flour & they still turned out amazing 🤩🤩🤩
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Eveline — Reply
Good recipe!
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yuri — Reply
SO GOOD! added pecans and chocolate chips!
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Tamar — Reply
I made these for my after school program kiddos. I used applesauce instead of butter and all purpose flour instead of wheat- they were a big hit – everyone asked for seconds and kept telling me how amazing they were. Will definitely make them again!
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Eva — Reply
Delicious banana muffins.
I have never made one of your recipes that was not delicious-
Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
This makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for trying my recipes.
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