These Banana Nut Muffins are tender, delicious and packed with banana and walnut flavors! A great way to use overripe bananas and have a quick breakfast, snack or packed lunch option on hand.
This post was originally posted on 5/17/2020 and updated on 8/8/2022.
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Why We Love These Banana Nut Muffins
- Incredibly easy and fast recipe to whip up and get in the oven.
- They turn out soft and tender every time!
- A great way to use up overripe bananas so there is no food waste.
- Perfect grab and go breakfast or snack.
- Kids love having these muffins packed in their school lunch!
- They are freezer friendly so you can make a double batch and freeze the extras.
Banana Nut Muffins Recipe Ingredients
- Salted Butter
- Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Eggs
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Whole Wheat Flour
- Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- Overripe Bananas
- Chopped Walnuts
Substitution Suggestions:
- Salted Butter: Unsalted butter can be used, just add an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt to the muffin batter.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: I can not stress enough how important it is to use pure extracts. The imitation extracts are chemically made and taste fake because that's exactly what they are and they leave a very off-putting after taste to your baked goods.
- Whole Wheat Flour and All Purpose Flour: I like to use a blend of both flours in these muffins because it creates the best texture and adds a hint more of the nutty flavor. You can use all whole wheat if you like, the muffins will be darker in color and a little bit more dense. All purpose flour can be subbed for the whole wheat flour as well and will give delicious results.
- Overripe Bananas: Make sure the bananas are overripe. The riper the better because the bananas become more sweet as they ripen. An ideal banana is yellow that is covered with black spots.
- Chopped Walnuts: I like to use raw walnuts, but you can use dry roasted walnuts as well. Just make sure the walnuts are unsalted. If you don't like walnuts, you can also use chopped pecans or almonds. Either will taste good too. If you like chocolate with your banana muffins you can use this yummy recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins
How to Make Easy Banana Nut Muffins
- First, heat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease the cups well.
- In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer and large bowl, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Then add the vanilla extract and mix well.
- Now add the dry ingredients: baking soda, salt, cinnamon and whole wheat flour and mix just until combined.
- Follow that with half the mashed bananas and mix on low speed.
- Next, add the all purpose flour and mix just until combined.
- Finish off with the remaining mashed bananas and chopped walnuts and mix it on low speed just until it is all incorporated, being careful not to over mix.
- Using a large scoop fill the muffin pan cups ¾ full. If you like you can add some extra chopped walnuts on top for a pretty muffin top. ***Pro Tip: If there are some empty muffin cups, pour some water into each one. This will prevent the pan from burning, plus give some extra moisture to the muffins.
- Bake muffins for 16-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool 2 minutes in pan and then remove to cool completely.
Storing Muffins
Once the muffins have completely cooled store them in an air tight container at room temp. They will stay fresh for 3-4 days. To keep the muffins longer, simply freeze them.
How to Freeze Muffins
Place cooled muffins in a freezer safe air tight container or zip top bag, label and date, then store in freezer up to 4 months. Thaw muffins on counter for a few hours before needing them.
More Ways to Use Overripe Bananas
There are so many more recipes that use overripe bananas besides the classic bread or muffin recipe. Here are some of our favorites:
- Banana Belgian Waffles
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Banana Scones
- Chocolate Chip Banana Blondies
- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Crumb Topped Banana Bread
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Bread
- Banana Pancakes with Fried Bananas
- Peanut Butter Banana Brownies
- Banana Chocolate Chip Oat Squares
- Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes
- Banana Nut Bars
Tips for the Best Banana Nut Muffins
- Always fluff your flour, then spoon it into the measuring cup and level off. That way you won't add to much flour and you'll end up with fluffy muffins rather than dense ones.
- Do NOT over mix the batter, the muffins will be tough instead of tender.
- Use a scoop for filling muffin pans ¾ full. This helps keep everything even and will ensure even baking throughout.
- Make sure the bananas are overripe. Overripe bananas give the most flavor and sweetness to the muffins.
FAQs About Banana Nut Muffins
What is the secret to good muffins?
The best tip for good muffins is to not overmix the batter. Overmixing is the most common mistake and it creates really tough and dry muffins.
How many walnuts are in a banana muffins?
1 cup of walnuts is an ideal amount to add to any muffin recipe.
What makes a muffin light and fluffy?
First, start with room temperature ingredients. It helps create a smooth batter more quickly. When creaming the butter and sugars make sure it is light and fluffy. Doing that creates air in the batter which helps create tender muffins. Also, don't overmix the muffin batter once you've added the flour. Overmixing creates too much gluten and will make the muffins tough.
Other Delicious Muffin Recipes:
- Strawberry Banana Muffins
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Easy Blueberry Muffins
- Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Muffins
- Applesauce Mini Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Applesauce Carrot Breakfast Muffins
- Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins
Banana Nut Muffins
These Banana Nut Muffins are tender, delicious and packed with banana and walnut flavors! A great way to use overripe bananas and have a quick breakfast, snack or packed lunch option on hand.
Servings: 18 muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter , softened
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 3 medium overripe bananas , mashed
- 1 cup chopped unsalted walnuts, raw or dry roasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin tin with paper liners or grease cups well.
- In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer and large mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each egg.
- Followed by the vanilla extract and mix.
- Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon and whole wheat flour. Mix just until combined.
- Add half of the mashed bananas and mix gently.
- Add the all purpose flour and mix just until combined.
- Add the remaining mashed bananas and chopped walnuts. Mix just until incorporated, being careful not to overmix.
- Using a large scoop, fill muffin cups ¾ full. Add a little extra chopped walnuts to the top for a pretty muffin top.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for 2 minutes in the pan and then remove to cool completely.
Notes
***Pro Tip: If there are some empty muffin cups, pour some water into each one. This will prevent the pan from burning, plus give some extra moisture to the muffins.
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 144mg | Potassium: 149mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 203IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
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