Banana Walnut Muffins
Banana Walnut Muffins are a classic. They are so simple to make, perfect to use up brown bananas and delicious with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
Whenever I get a craving for something sweet, it’s usually something simple, like a muffin. Even though muffins or bars don’t take that much effort to make, that doesn’t mean that they will somehow be less satisfying.
I’ve been looking for a perfect Banana Walnut Muffin recipe for a long time, and I finally came up with the perfect combination of ingredients to end up with a muffin that is moist and tender in the center, not too sweet and of course, really delicious. The best part about simple desserts is that the ingredients are very basic and don’t require an extra trip to the store. It’s also a great way to use up bananas that get too ripe.
Now that I’m pregnant and have very little appetite, I was thrilled when I made these cupcakes that they actually awakened some of my tastebuds and I just smiled as I bit into the first warm muffin and realized that I finally found the perfect recipe for one of my favorite muffins.
Ingredients:
- ripe/brown bananas
- The best bananas to use are the ones that are already really ripe and starting to brown. They are much sweeter and will have a more intense flavor.
- all purpose flour
- I have not tested this recipe with gluten free options.
- baking powder
- baking soda
- ground cinnamon
- grated nutmeg
- nutmeg is optional, but it adds a nice extra note of flavor.
- salt
- brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- For the best results, use room temperature eggs
- oil
- I use avocado oil, but you can use other mild flavored oils, such as grapeseed or vegetable oil.
- plain yogurt or sour cream
- vanilla extract
- toasted walnuts
- Instead of walnuts, you can use pecans, almonds or other nuts that you like. You can also omit the nuts completely.
How To Make Banana Walnut Muffins
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners.
Mash the bananas. You can get away with using only 3 bananas, if you don’t have 4 available. I like to use a potato masher, but you can use a fork or anything else.
Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl – the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. In another bowl, whisk the sugars, eggs, oil, yogurt or sour cream, and vanilla extract.
Add the bananas to the liquid ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients together, just until blended. Do NOT over mix. The dough should still be lumpy. It’s normal to see just a few streaks of flour in the batter. Add 1/2 cup of the walnuts to the batter. Mix to combine, gently, trying not to over mix, as I mentioned earlier.
Fill the prepared muffin pan with the muffin batter. Top the muffins with the remaining walnuts. Of course, you can use any other nuts or omit the nuts completely. You will have 18-24 muffins, depending on how big you want the muffins to be. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
Banana Walnut Muffins
Banana Walnut Muffins are a classic. They are so simple to make, perfect to use up brown bananas and delicious with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 18–22 muffins 1x
- Category: Sweets
Ingredients
- 3–4 ripe bananas
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoons grated nutmeg, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the muffin pans generously with oil/melted butter or use paper liners.
- The best bananas to use are the ones that are already really ripe and starting to brown. They are much sweeter and will have a more intense flavor. Mash the bananas. I like to use a potato masher, but you can use a fork or anything else.
- Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl – the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk the sugars, eggs, oil, yogurt or sour cream, and vanilla extract.
- Add the bananas to the liquid ingredients.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients together, just until blended. Do NOT over mix. The dough should still be lumpy. It’s normal to see just a few streaks of flour in the batter.
- Add 1/2 cup of the walnuts to the batter. Mix to combine, gently, trying not to over mix, as I mentioned earlier. Fill the prepared muffin pan with the muffin batter. Top the muffins with the remaining walnuts. Of course, you can use any other nuts or omit the nuts completely. You will have 18-24 muffins, depending on how big you want the muffins to be.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
Oksana K
Yummmmm!!! My favorite muffins… can’t wait for my bananas to ripen now 🙂
I have a lot of coconut flour and i heard you can substitute regular flour in baking for the coconut flour, but the measurements are different. Do you happen to know how much of coconut flour instead of regular one should i use in this recipe? I really need to use it up in baking and this is a good opportunity….
thank you dear 😀
olgak7
I’ve never used coconut flour, so I don’t know how to help you, Oksana. Sorry.
Oksana K
Its ok, Olga, i’ll google it. Coconut flour smells so delicious and i did brownies with it, so i really want to use it in this recipe. I love it so much and its a grain free flour, so no gluten… anyway, thanks anyway 🙂
lana
these are delicious!! I just made them 😀 now its my favorite banana nut muffin recipe. the sour cream really makes them moist. I love the addition of the spices too! thanks 🙂
olgak7
Wow! That was fast, Lana! I’m so glad you like the muffins. I do think that the sour cream makes them more moist:).
Lana
Ii used to make banana bread muffins similar to your recipe without the sour cream and spices and they werent as moist. so i figured it must be the sour cream 😀
Lana
HAHA… I first read I DONT think the sour cream makes them more moist. 🙂
Valya of valyastasteofhome.com says
This muffins look so good Olga!, and congratulation with your pregnancy. What an exciting news. I love surprises (happy ones)! May God Bless you with a little one of your own, for all the good things you do to all those little ones with being a foster mom!!! Wow, I cant imagine going through pregnancy the way you have to go through. Wish you so much Gods blessings and help from Him, and may He give you lots of strengths to go through this hard times. It will be rewarding at the end! Trust me! 🙂
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These are tasty! I made them last night, and my husband and I enjoyed them…especially when they were warm 🙂 Thanks for sharing the recipe!
jen
Would these freeze well? I know you love to freeze food, how would you do these muffins???Because 18-24 muffins is a lot for a small family on a weekday night snack. 🙂
Can’t wait to try these. I will probably use both sour cream and plain yogurt and just split it between the two.
Love banana and nut combination. Thanks olga.
olgak7
Yes, you can definitely freeze these muffins, Jen.
Oksana K
Ok, baked these last night with regular flour, as i didn’t have time to look up how to convert the measurement to the amount of coconut flour. I had a friend coming over and wanted to bake something. Anyway, they turned out really good, moist, flavorful ( i also sneaked in some poppy seeds in there, as i have a ton of it and wanted to use). WOW! Will never use another recipe ever – this is just pure perfect banana -walnut muffin recipe. 😀 Thank you so much!
Funny, cuz we have a habit of lowering the amount of sugar, when baking, as everything is soooooo sweet, but looks like this recipe had just the right amount of sugar, and we didn’t have to measure less as we usually do 😀
Mariya
One of my favorite sweets is your banana coffee cake! I bet this will taste great also. Is do have a question I’m pregnant and I can not stand the smell of any oil right now they all stink to me lol I’m worried I’ll smell it in here, any way I can substitute something like butter maybe? And if I can how much? Thank you!
Liliya B
Hi Olga ,
Thank you for this wonderful muffins , everyone loved it but they all in one voice demanded for it to be a little bit sweeter . Any suggestions on how much more sugar I can add ? Or maybe substitute part of brown sugar with cane sugar ?
olgak7
That’s really up to you, Liliya. I don’t like desserts to be too sweet, so I tend to use less in my baking. Just add as much as your family prefers. You will have to experiment. Add half a cup more and see what you think.
Natasha
I made these today and they were really good! Thank you!
Larisa
These are in my oven right now! I added chocolate chips, can’t wait to sink my choppers in these! 😉
olgak7
Nice! Chocolate chips and bananas go great together.
Olga
Can I substutite bananas with apple souce? Any suggestions on proportions? Thanx
olgak7
I have never tried it, so I don’t know, Olga. You will have to experiment.
Ana
They look so yammy….I want to try this. I have in freezer some bananas, can I use them instead of fresh bananas?
Also I have a lot of frozen peaches and I don’t know what to do with them, can you suggest some recipes from your blog, because I love your blog?
Thank you!
olgak7
Absolutely, Ana. Defrost the bananas and discard any liquid. Then use them in the recipe.
Here are a few suggestions for the frozen peaches:
#1. This smoothie. It’s my absolute favorite.
#2. Use peaches instead of plums in this recipe.
#3. Peach pie
#4. I also love to make homemade jam from frozen fruit. I don’t have a recipe on my blog, but I just add sugar to taste, a splash of lemon juice and cook it until it reaches the proper consistency.
Ana
Thank you very much Olga!
Natalia
Hi Olga,
I would like to ask you if I can miss step with brown sugar is it ok?
Thank you.
olgak7
I’m not sure, Natalia. I believe the texture may be different and of course, the muffins will be less sweet.
Tzivia
Mm mmm yummm these muffins look way scrumptious was wondering Olga if I can use butter in place of the oil
olgak7
Replacing the butter for the oil will give them a slightly different texture, Tzivia, but the muffins will still turn out just fine.
Tzivia
Oh ok so something to think about food for thought both literally and figuratively lmao