Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Loaded with sweet banana flavor and a touch of spice!
Texture: Perfectly fluffy yet moist, no gummy bits that stick to the roof of your mouth.
Ease: Ultra easy, these bake up in minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Perfect go-to muffin recipe.
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Get ready to meet your new favorite muffin recipe: my Easy Bakery Style Banana Muffins.
When I was developing this banana muffin recipe earlier this year, Kelly, one of our Handle the Heat alumni, said, “They were perfectly moist and my hubby kept commenting on how fluffy they were. I say ‘were’ because they are all gone now!”
The inspiration for this banana muffin recipe came heavily from a recent issue of Cooks Illustrated which has been a longstanding source of inspiration for most of my career.
Free Muffin Cheatsheet!
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I made a few changes, including swapping out some of the oil for butter because butter… there’s no real explanation needed, but I do go into finer detail in the pink box below. I also added in some spices and brown sugar to boost the flavor.
What I love most about this recipe is that the banana muffins aren’t gummy or claggy. The texture doesn’t get stuck to the roof of your mouth and instead remains moist and fluffy. The best of both worlds!
Although this recipe is very simple, I’ve included tons of tips on the science of muffin baking in the pink box below. Read it to arm yourself with the answers to practically any muffin question you could have before trying out this recipe.
And after you bake a batch of these banana muffins, check out my Easy Banana Bread Recipe. Or even my Double Chocolate Banana Bread for an ultra-chocolatey breakfast treat.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Banana Muffins
How Ripe Should Bananas be for Muffins?
- Be sure to use overripe bananas for this recipe.
- The best bananas for baking should be very well-speckled or even nearly black.
- This is important when baking Banana Bread, muffins, Banana Cake, or Banana Cupcakes!
- Why use overripe bananas? Besides the fact that they’re not good for much else in the kitchen, overripe bananas are actually significantly sweeter and will contribute more banana flavor AND more moisture to the recipe.
- If you use underripe bananas (and when I say ‘underripe,’ I mean for baking specifically), your muffins will be bland and dry.
How to Mash Bananas for Banana Bread or Muffins:
- Place bananas in a bowl or on a plate, and use a fork to mash them up.
- OR, place bananas in a bowl and use an electric mixer to beat the bananas until they’re mashed.
Instructions for Baking TALL Banana Muffins:
Tall Muffin Tip #1: Use Bread Flour!
- Bread flour has a higher level of protein content than all-purpose flour.
- That extra protein will allow the flour to absorb more moisture and add more structure. The result? Extra tall muffins that are still super moist and tender!
- What if I Don’t Have Bread Flour? Although bread flour does work best, you can use all-purpose flour if you must.
- If you’ve got it, opt for King Arthur AP flour, which has a higher protein content.
- I haven’t tested these muffins with whole wheat flour.
Tall Muffin Tip #2: Bake at a High Temperature!
- In this recipe, we bake at a high temperature of 425°F the entire time to get tall beautiful muffins.
- You may have seen techniques that call for an initial burst of heat and then require you to drop the temperature down. I personally don’t love this method because if you forget to lower the temperature, you have a batch of scorched muffins.
Tall Muffin Tip #3: Fill Your Muffin Cavities 3/4 Full with Batter!
- For tall muffins that have a bit of a muffin top, you must fill your pan pretty full.
- For this recipe, I find that filling each cavity 3/4 full using a standard 12-cup muffin tin works beautifully.
- However, if you want slightly smaller muffins or have a muffin pan with smaller cavities (each brand is different!), then feel free to fill the cavities 2/3 full. You’ll just need to fill 15 cavities across two pans.
How Long to Bake Banana Muffins
This recipe was designed to bake at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time, just 14 to 15 minutes. Those overripe bananas help to keep the muffins moist instead of drying out in the hot oven.
How to Avoid Overbaking Muffins
Don’t use a dark-colored nonstick pan when baking muffins. It simply conducts heat too aggressively and can lead to burnt bottoms or dry edges. My favorite pan for muffin baking is either this Wilton pan or this USA Pan.
Does an Overnight Rest of the Batter Work for This Recipe?
Not perfectly. If you’ve followed me for a little while, you may have seen my overnight muffin batter trick. Basically, for muffin recipes that use baking powder, if you cover the batter and allow it to rest overnight in the fridge, then the muffins will bake up extra tall and tender the next day. Check out my full article on How to Bake Tall Bakery Style Muffins here.
However, this recipe is a little different. These muffins call for both baking powder and baking soda. Baking powder is double acting so it activates upon being mixed with liquid and when it hits the heat of the oven. Baking soda only acts upon being mixed with something acidic (like brown sugar). The baking soda in the batter will lose strength the longer it sits before being baked.
For this reason, I don’t particularly recommend the overnight chill for this recipe. You can do it if it’ll make your life easier, but you’ll lose a little browning on the muffins while they bake. If you’re curious about learning more about baking soda vs. baking powder, click here!
How to Make Moist Banana Muffins
- Use a combination of oil AND butter! Use some oil for the sensation of moisture on the palate. This happens because oil is liquid at room temperature. It’s also my preference to use some melted butter so you get that beautiful distinct taste that only butter provides. This way, you get moistness and flavor!
- Avoid overmixing your wet ingredients with the flour mixture as this will result in more dry, dense muffins instead of muffins with a moist crumb.
- Follow the other tips above for using overripe bananas for the best guarantee of moist muffins!
Can I Add Nuts or Chocolate Chips to These Banana Muffins?
- Yes! Feel free to add 3/4 cup (75 grams) of walnut halves or pecans, chopped after measuring.
- For best results, toast them first too!
- You can also add 1 cup (170 grams) chocolate chips.
- Regular-size or mini chocolate chips will work.
How to Store Muffins
Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Can You Freeze These Muffins?
Place cooled muffins on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Remove them to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You can reheat in the microwave directly from the freezer (about 15 to 20 seconds) or thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven.
More Muffin Recipes You’ll Love:
- Pumpkin Muffins (with a brown sugar streusel on top!)
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
Easy Bakery Style Banana Muffins
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (205 grams) bread flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
- 1 1/2 cups (354 grams) mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)**
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) vegetable or canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- OPTIONAL: 3/4 cup (75 grams) walnut halves or pecans, toasted and chopped OR 1 (170 grams) cup chocolate chips
- Coarse sugar, for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Position an oven rack to the middle or upper middle position. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices if using.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the bananas, sugars, butter, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just barely combined. Stir in the nuts or chocolate chips, if using.
- Divide evenly among the muffin tin cups, filling each 3/4 full for large muffins. You can also make about 15 smaller muffins by filling the cavities of two pans just 2/3 full. Sprinkle each with a generous amount of coarse sugar for a crunchy shiny topping, if desired.
- Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 14 to 15 minutes. Let cool in muffin pan for 5 to 10 minutes before removing to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
This recipe was written in 2021 and has been updated with additional baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
I was looking for a banana bread recipe that used bread flour because I had a whole bag and this one popped up on my google search. I also had the rest of the ingredients on hand so it felt like fate! One bite and I knew these were winners! Moist without being dense, flavorful without being too sweet. I did add chocolate chips and thought the ratio was great. I was able to make 12 muffins.
I appreciate having the grams listed because when I weigh my ingredients I always end up with better results. My bananas were on the smaller side so I ended up using almost 4 whole bananas so it equalled 354 grams (why weighing is so important)!
I bookmarked these under “best banana muffins” and will definitely be making them again! 🙂
Whipped these up this afternoon, very happy with the outcome. Have tried a few different recipes over the years, but none as good as these. Mine took about 18min, omitted nutmeg as I didn’t have any.
Hi! I never comment on posts but have to do so for this. I’ve tried 3 different banana muffin recipes before this one and just baked a batch with your recipe and they are beyond amazing thank you so much!