Bakery Style Banana Muffins

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When I set out to develop my ideal bakery style banana muffins, I wanted three things: tall domes, serious banana flavor, and a fluffy crumb that doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth.

In my testing, I found that many recipes were either moist but flat… or tall but dry. The balance came down to flour choice, fat ratio, and oven temperature.

After several batches (including one overly oily round and one dry, overmixed batch), this version hit exactly what I was after.

The inspiration for this banana muffin recipe came from an issue of Cooks Illustrated.

Sprinkle of Science

Ingredient Notes

This is a simple recipe, but a few carefully selected ingredients make a world of difference.

• Very Ripe Bananas: The bananas should be heavily speckled or nearly black. Overripe bananas are sweeter, more aromatic, and contain more broken-down starches, which means better moisture and stronger banana flavor. Underripe bananas will give you bland, dry muffins. I like to mash them with a potato masher.

• Bread Flour: This is key for tall banana muffins. Bread flour has higher protein than all-purpose flour, allowing it to absorb more moisture and create stronger structure for bakery-style domes. If substituting AP flour, use a higher-protein brand like King Arthur.
• Butter + Oil: I tested this recipe with all oil and all butter. All oil made the texture slightly greasy. All butter made the muffins less moist by day two.
  The combination gives you butter for flavor and oil so they stay tender for days.
• Baking Powder + Baking Soda: This recipe uses both. Baking powder gives lift in the oven, while baking soda reacts with the acidity in brown sugar and bananas for browning and additional rise. Learn more in my Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder guide.

How to Make Bakery Style Banana Muffins

1. Preheat the Oven: Preheat to 425°F and position your rack in the middle or upper-middle position. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. High heat is critical for tall domes.

2. Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk all the dry ingredients together thoroughly so the leaveners are evenly distributed. I like to add some spices for extra flavor, but feel free to remove them or switch them up.

3. Mix Wet Ingredients: For the purpose of this recipe, the sugars are included with the wet ingredients.

4. Combine Wet and Dry: Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir gently with a spatula until just combined. You should still see a few streaks of flour. Overmixing = dense, tough muffins.

At this point you can also add:

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• OR 3/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts or pecans

5. Fill the Muffin Pan: Fill each cavity 3/4 full for large bakery-style muffins. For slightly smaller muffins, fill 2/3 full and divide between two pans (about 15 muffins). Sprinkle tops generously with coarse sugar for a crisp, sparkly finish.

6. Bake: at 425°F for 14–15 minutes, or until:

• Tops are golden brown
• Centers spring back lightly
• A toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Baking Success Tips

• Use bananas that are very ripe for best flavor and moisture.
• Do not use a dark nonstick muffin pan, it can overbrown bottoms. I like USA pans.
• Measure flour with a digital scale for accuracy.
• Stop stirring as soon as flour disappears.
• For extra tall tops, make sure your oven is fully preheated.
• If baking at high altitude, reduce baking powder to 2 teaspoons.

Storage & Make Ahead

Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

You can also 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.

How to Make

Easy Bakery Style Banana Muffins

4.86 from 56 votes

Yield: 12 large muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Review Print

Learn how to make tall, moist Bakery Style Banana Muffins with bakery-perfect domes. Tested tips for fluffy texture, bold banana flavor, and no gumminess.

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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 sea 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.

Show us!If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

Recipe Notes

*Reduce baking powder to 2 teaspoons if at high altitude.

**Be sure to use very ripe bananas that are deeply spotted and almost black for moist and flavorful muffins.

Recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated.

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

This recipe was written in 2021 and has been updated with additional baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.