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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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.
Reader Love
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!
–
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.
FAQs
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.
You can also add 1 cup (170 grams) chocolate chips. Regular-size or mini chocolate chips will work.
Does an overnight rest of the batter work for this recipe?
Not ideally. Because this recipe contains baking soda, some leavening strength weakens over time. You can refrigerate overnight if necessary, but expect slightly less browning.
How ripe should bananas be for banana muffins?
Bananas should be heavily speckled or nearly black. Overripe bananas are sweeter, softer, and provide significantly more flavor and moisture than yellow bananas.
How do you make bakery style banana muffins tall?
Use bread flour, fill muffin cavities 3/4 full, and bake at 425°F. The higher protein flour builds structure while the high heat creates rapid oven spring for domed tops.
Can I use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour?
Yes, though bread flour does work best. Use a higher-protein all-purpose flour if possible, like King Arthur.
Why are my banana muffins gummy?
Gummy muffins are usually caused by overmixing or underbaking. Stir just until combined and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Can I make these into mini muffins?
Yes. Fill mini muffin tins about 3/4 full and reduce bake time to 9–11 minutes. Watch closely.
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 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.
Recipe Notes
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.
These are absolutely perfect. Light, fluffy, moist with the perfect banana flavor and hint of spices. My son is absolutely obsessed. I’ve got a double batch in the oven right now.
Your banana muffin recipe is SO GOOD! It’s my new favorite! They are so moist and flavorful. Really easy to make. My whole family loves them. Thank you for sharing!
I made these and they turned out perfect.i made them using coconut oil for the butter as my daughter cannot have dairy. They were light fluffy inside had the perfect crunch outside very great recipe
So happy to hear that you enjoyed these muffins, Judy!!
Delicious and easy! I don’t see nutritional info where can I get it?
Hi Peggy! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed these muffins! We don’t have nutritional information for our recipes, but you should be able to find a nutritional calculator online to assist with this, if you wish! 🙂
I have made several times and they are always fabulous! They were still delicious and nice and high even when I misread the recipe and added 1 tsp instead of 1 tbls of baking powder. I prefer both nuts and chocolate chips but have made with just nuts as well. My favourite muffin recipe since I have tried them.
So wonderful to hear you love these muffins, Donna!!
I just re-created this muffin batter this morning.
I used lots of deep spotted/blackened bananas about 4-6. I added more vanilla extract because that’s my preference as a home baker of 12 years.
I reduced the sugar and only used brown sugar.
I used 1/2 tablespoon of baking soda.
I used all purpose flour.
I’ve used the special ultra special King Arthur bread flour before and actively only preferred it for making breads with no mile high bread tops.
I will eat them soon to test taste them.
Not mile high by any means.
But the batter I sampled was very pleasant.
Hi Emmi! So many adjustments to a recipe will definitely result in a different outcome than what was texted extensively by our team. We always suggest making a recipe as written first, before making any adjustments, so you have something to compare future experiments to! I hope your muffins tasted delicious!!
Made it twice as a cake, so delicious, so yummy, so flavourful thanks for sharing your recipe
I’ll be trying it as muffins next time
Have you ever subbed a few tablespoons of thr bread flour for cocoa powder to make chocolate bananna muffins?
Making these today and am craving chocolate but not sure thr chocolate chips are gonna due.
Thanks for all the info
Hi Debbie! We can’t say for sure, as we haven’t tried that, but please feel free to experiment and let us know what you think! Alternatively, we do actually have a recipe for Chocolate Banana Muffins on the blog. It’s an older recipe, but still delicious! I hope that satisfies your chocolate craving! 🙂
Hi Tessa! Thank you so much for this recipe.
You said not to overnight the batter because of the baking soda. If I omit the baking soda and just use baking powder (1 tablespoon + 1/2 tsp), would that be better? If it’s only losing a little bit of browning, as you’ve mentioned, wouldn’t a tastier (due to overnight batter) outcome preferable?
We haven’t tried omitting the baking soda, but you are welcome to experiment. Or try an overnight with both leaveners and you will just lose a little bit of browning. Let us know how your muffins turn out!
I made these today with my little girl. They were soooo good and very flavorful. Thank you so much for sharing. We will definitely be making these again.
So happy you loved this recipe!
This has been my go to banana muffin recipe for a while and the family snarfs them down. I scoop out 4 muffins for my hubby and sprinkle ground walnuts on top. Then I mix 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips into the remaining batter for the kids – the recipe yields about 16-18 muffins total.
Yay!! So happy to hear it’s such a hit with your family, and I love how you customize for everyone too!
Amazing! In our oven 10 mins was perfect!! Could have been on lower shelf