Meet the banana muffins of my dreams. They’re fluffy, whole grain, naturally sweetened, totally delicious banana muffins. They’re also about as healthy as muffins can be. The recipe calls for basic ingredients and you can mix them all together in one bowl. Too much to be true? Nope.
These muffins are a derivative of my super popular banana bread and pumpkin muffin recipes. If you love these, you certainly don’t miss the blueberry muffins in my cookbook.
Muffins aside, can I tell you what else is exciting? I got a new camera! Can you tell? Bueller? Bueller? Well, that’s ok. I can, and I’m thrilled about it. I bought my old camera during my last year of college and it was the best investment I ever made. Eight years and 88,000 (that’s eighty-eight thousand) photographs later, it was time to upgrade.
My new camera and I are still getting acquainted. I haven’t found the best settings or figured out all the fancy-pants features just yet (anyone want video?). We’ll get there. Photographing these banana muffins was a learning experience. A very tasty learning experience.
The Best Banana Muffins
Here are a few reasons to love this banana muffin recipe (which happens to be more nutritionally redeeming than most):
- These muffins are easy to make with basic ingredients. Only one bowl required!
- They’re made with 100% whole grains, yet they’re fluffy and delicious. No one will know the difference.
- They’re also naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, rather than loaded with refined sugar. The maple syrup (or honey) offers a touch of extra flavor, which I love.
- A touch of cinnamon offers some warming spice flavor. These muffins will make your house smell amazing!
- These muffins freeze well, too. Just defrost individual muffins in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, or until gently warmed through. You don’t want to overdo it.
Please let me know how your muffins turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you, and hope these banana muffins are your new favorite.
Craving more wholesome banana treats? Don’t miss my banana oat pancakes, vegan banana scones, healthy banana bread and banana cake with cream cheese frosting.
Watch How to Make Banana Muffins
Maple-Sweetened Banana Muffins
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 11 muffins 1x
- Category: Baked goods
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: American
These whole wheat, maple-sweetened banana muffins are so fluffy and moist, I bet no one can guess they’re healthy muffins. They’re easy to make, too, with basic ingredients and only one mixing bowl! Feel free to add mix-ins of your choice, like chocolate chips or toasted nuts. Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup packed mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
- ¼ cup milk of choice or water (I used almond milk)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats (optional), plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 teaspoon turbinado (raw) sugar or other granulated sugar, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
- In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil and maple syrup together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well. Mix in the mashed bananas and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon.
- Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins**, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of oats (about 1 tablespoon in total), followed by a light sprinkling of sugar (about 1 teaspoon in total). Bake muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. These muffins will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my healthy pumpkin muffins.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (although, I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
**Change it up: You could really go crazy with add-ins here. Fold in up to ¾ cup chocolate chips, chopped dried cranberries or crystallized ginger and/or chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts. With add-ins, your muffins might require the full 25 minutes in the oven. Another idea? You could top your muffins with my maple glaze from my pumpkin scones recipe to make them more decadent.
Serving suggestions: These muffins are great on their own, with a pat of butter, or spread with almond butter. They would also be fantastic with homemade pecan butter or coconut butter.
Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it vegan: Substitute flax eggs for regular eggs, use dairy-free milk like almond milk and use maple syrup instead of honey.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend works well instead of the whole wheat flour.
Make it nut free: Use a nut-free milk.
Make it oat free: Simply omit the oats.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
▸ Nutrition Information
This post contains affiliate links to Amazon, which means I’ll earn a small commission (at no cost to you) if you make a purchase through these links. Thank you for your support!
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Lopez
Wow, what a delicious recipe! What’s even more amazing is that I forgot to add the milk and it still turned out fantastic! I added chocolate chips and they turned out moist and not too sweet. I will definitely make these again! (I might even add the milk next time!)
★★★★★
Christabel
If you love baking but are trying to be healthy, you have to try this recipe! Just baked these today with some modifications: 1 cup plain flour + 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, added mix ins (chopped walnuts and chopped up dark chocolate), honey instead of maple syrup, baked for 20min (cause my muffin cups were smaller).
These turned out much better than I expected, because so far almost all my healthy baking attempts haven’t produced tasty results. Replacing sugar with honey and replacing plain flour with whole-wheat flour usually leads to dense baked goods for me. But I really love how moist these are even through there’s no butter and sugar. Will definitely be baking these again – can’t wait to try this with maple syrup and some chopped up pecans!
★★★★★
Christine
Loved this recipe! I added 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and it was amazing.
★★★★★
Charleen Cordo
These were to most moist and delicious muffins I have had. I make a lot of different ones but will definitely keep this recipe.
★★★★★
Danelle
Delicious! I added some hemp protein powder, but other than that, followed the recipe exactly. Happy to have a yummy and feel good healthy breakfast.Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Danelle! Thank you for sharing.
Dana
Amazing! Was hesitant how it would turn out with all the healthy substitutions and hands down my new go to recipe and super healthy! I used the coconut oil and was happily surprised that you cant even taste it, did 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup syrup and didnt have whole wheat flour so used 1 cup reg white flour and 3/4 almond flour, and added some walnuts and omg!! So good, thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Fino Caraco
These look Amazing! Definitely going to make them! It would be great if you could provide the metric version of the recipe as well for those of us who prefer that method of baking. It will save lots of folks like myself from having to do the conversion on my own. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Fino! I appreciate the feedback. I haven’t found a plug-in I love yet, but appreciate you still using my recipes even with having to convert!
Emily Muia
These are very good lists of flavor and super moist
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved them, Emily! Thank you for sharing.
Andrea
Second time making these muffins and they are delicious.
I added some raisins. Didn’t have quite enough bananas to make one cup so added a little applesauce to make the one cup.
Delicious and a huge hit at my house.
Thank you,
Andrea
★★★★★
Cindy
This is our go-to banana muffin recipe. My 5-year old daughter and husband both love these muffins. It’s a great way to use up bananas. We like to make mini-muffins and freeze them. We add whatever fruit, nuts, etc., on hand and sometime I will add chia seeds.
★★★★★
Kamryn
I just tried this recipe for the first time in addition to your blueberry muffin recipe and was so pleasantly surprised at how they turned out. I was nervous about not using sugar but I can’t even tell! They are so delicious and I can feel good about eating them for breakfast to start my day right! I just have one question about the bake time/temp. I read in the blueberry muffin recipe you adjusted the baking temp from 325 to 400 and the baking time from 22-24 minutes to 16-19 minutes. Is it intention that this recipe wasn’t updated or is it just an older recipe?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Kamryn! I’m happy you loved it. I love how observant you are! They needed an adjustment in baking time to get just right given the slightly different ingredients. Blueberries were a little tricky.
Mim
These were amazing! Will definitely be making these again, added some ground nutmeg and a half cup of blueberries. So easy and delicious thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad they still worked with their additions!
Jen K
Perfect healthy banana muffins! I’ve made them three times in the last three weeks. I use grapeseed oil, honey, unsweetened almond milk and whole wheat pastry flour, and I omit the oats and turbinado sugar. My kids gobble them up!
★★★★★
FAIROOZ
Just loved the simplest recipe ever
The result was good n yummy.
Thanks Kate
Anna
This has become our go to muffin recipe for snacks. I reduced maple syrup to 1/3 cup to save washing a second cup and add chopped dates. Yummy! :)
★★★★★
Barb Warriner
Loved these. Easy to make. Not too sweet. Turned out just like the picture. I made with whole wheat flour and grape seed oil. I threw in approximately 1/2 cup of combo of fruit and seeds. Thanks
Kamakshi
Hey! I absolutely love your recipes and have been following your blog for quiet some time. Your work is delicious and beautiful!
Well, i have a question regarding this recipe. I have tried it many times and have always loved it. I was wondering if we can use coconut sugar in place of honey. Is that okay?
Kate
Hi Kamakshi! I’m glad you have been loving them. Unfortunately, the honey (or maple syrup) not only help with sweetness but the overall end result of how moist they are. To do that, you would likely need to adjust the other ingredients and I can’t say for sure how much.
Cathleen Bass
I made these muffins this morning and they are great! Thank you.
★★★★★
Shirley bonnie scotland
Please give measures of cups in ounces or fluid ounces for us Scots.
Shelby Aramini
I was looking for a healthy alternative to my normal banana cake recipe, and OMG it’s amazing! This recipe is delish highly recommended and I will definitely be making it again
★★★★★