Banana Nut Muffins
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These banana nut muffins are tender, packed with banana flavor, and topped with just the right amount of crunch—perfect for using up those overripe bananas.
When I was in culinary school, the chefs would randomly (and terrifyingly!) inspect our trash cans to ensure we hadn’t tossed any scraps that could be repurposed. I quickly learned that nothing goes to waste in a restaurant kitchen: stale bread becomes breadcrumbs or croutons, bones become stock, vegetable trimmings become soup, and overripe bananas get turned into banana muffins, banana bread, banana pancakes, banana cake—even banana ice cream. These banana nut muffins are one of my favorite ways to use up those spotted bananas—they’re quick to make, full of flavor, and never stick around for long.
If you lean chocolate over nuts, banana chocolate chip muffins are another tried-and-true favorite in my kitchen—and definitely the more kid-friendly option.
“Had a lot of ripe bananas and thought…banana muffins! They were SO moist and delicious! I stuck some in the freezer for a future treat.”
What You’ll Need To Make Banana Nut Muffins
- Mashed Bananas: The browner and spottier, the better—they’re easier to mash and add deeper banana flavor and natural sweetness.
- All-Purpose Flour: Spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off for accuracy—packing it in can lead to dense muffins.
- Sugar & Honey: A mix of granulated sugar and honey gives the muffins just the right amount of sweetness and helps keep them moist.
- Butter & Eggs: These add richness, structure, and flavor. Let them come to room temperature so they blend easily into the batter.
- Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream: Makes the muffins tender and gives them a subtle tang that balances the sweetness.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Work together to lift the muffins. The baking soda also reacts with the yogurt or sour cream for extra rise.
- Vanilla Extract & Cinnamon: Vanilla rounds out the flavor; cinnamon adds a warm, cozy spice that pairs perfectly with banana.
- Chopped Walnuts (for the topping): Add crunch and a toasty, nutty bite. If you’re skipping the nuts, try a little nut-free granola or coarse sugar instead—just omit the honey in the topping if you go that route.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the topping. In a small bowl, toss the walnuts with the honey and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon until evenly coated (the mixture will be sticky). Set aside.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. Whisking helps evenly distribute the leaveners and spices so there are no clumps.
Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and honey until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Butter that’s just a touch cooler than room temperature blends more easily and helps achieve a uniform creamy texture.
Step 4: Add the eggs, banana, and yogurt. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the mashed banana, vanilla, and yogurt or sour cream.
Step 5: Blend until combined. Beat until smooth (the batter may look a little grainy—that’s fine).
Step 6: Add the dry ingredients. Mix in the flour mixture until just combined. The batter will be thick.
Pro Tip: Avoid overmixing—stir just until you don’t see streaks of flour. Overmixing can lead to dense muffins.
Step 7: Fill and top the muffins. Spoon the batter into the liners in the prepared muffin tin—the cups will be quite full. Sprinkle with the walnut topping.
Step 8: Bake and cool the muffins. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 28 minutes, until the tops are golden and nicely domed. Let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes—this helps them set—then transfer to a wire rack so the bottoms don’t get soggy. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. The muffins keep well in an airtight container for a few days and freeze beautifully for up to 3 months.
More Muffin Recipes You May Like
Banana Nut Muffins
Ingredients
For the Walnut Topping
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Muffins
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed bananas, from 2 to 3 overripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt or sour cream (low-fat is fine)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Make the walnut topping: In a small bowl, toss the nuts with the honey and cinnamon until the nuts are evenly coated (the mixture will be sticky). Set aside.
- For the Muffins: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and honey until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary. At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated between additions. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla, and yogurt (or sour cream) and beat until blended (the batter will look grainy; that's okay). Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until well blended.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin (the cups will be very full) and sprinkle evenly with the nut topping. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden and domed, 25 to 28 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Best muffin recipe that I have ever made!
If I wanted to make this into a loaf instead of muffins how would I do this?
Hi Lisa, I’d bake the loaf at 350°F for 40 to 45 min. Hope you enjoy!
I’m truly never disappointed with Jenn’s recipes. She manages to somehow make a simple little recipe become phenomenal. I love baking her recipes because ingredients are never wasted from a failed recipe. I always read the reviews so I can tweak as my husband is gluten sensitive and in this case, there’s honey which my infant cannot have. The Namaste GF flour works beautifully and the maple syrup is perfect! Another reviewer mentioned pecans in lieu of walnuts and I LOVE pecans so voila. While I was baking these, my infant was in his chair sampling Jenn’s banana bread, so as you can see, I truly love this talented cookbook author! I also love that she explains how to freeze/thaw/warm up the recipe. I don’t know what I did before discovering her blog a couple of years ago. Love her cookbook too! ❤️
Thank you so much for your nice comments Frenchie — you made my day! 💗
I’m so glad I saw the post on Instagram for these muffins! I had overripe bananas on the counter and was going to make my usual banana bread. These muffins were a yummy alternative. I omitted the topping since there’s a nut allergy in the house and added the cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
Thanks so much for this recipe, Jen! The muffins were light and moist and the honey and yogurt added perfectly balanced flavors!
Best ever!
So moist, light and just delicious, though a bit on the sweet side.
I just stumbled upon this recipe. Absolutely delicious! My kids are all grown and gone so I rarely bake. This September day has an autumnal feel and there were a few very ripe bananas left so baking seemed appropriate. I substituted buttermilk for the yogurt since I had that on hand. The guy painting my doors and windows really enjoyed having a muffin with his cup of tea. Thank you for sharing this Jenn!
I’ve made this recipe for about a year or more as my go-to banana muffin recipe, even forgoing typical banana bread for these! I just had my second baby, and my sister and cousin have also just had babies. We’re all breastfeeding and this recipe is one I have easily altered to make it new mama and lactation friendly! These made perfect gifts for those newly postpartum ladies and no one could believe they were lactation boosters! To make this already bomb recipe lactation friendlier I added ground flax, brewers yeast, an extra banana, subbed Greek yogurt for sour cream and doubled the amount, a smidge more baking powder, and subbed part of the flour for oat flour. So easy and a huge hit! Thanks for this recipe, I treasure it!
How much did you add for each new ingredient? Mostly am wondering about the brewers’s yeast.
I’ve been searching for the perfect banana walnut muffin recipe and found this. I didn’t have plain yogurt so I used my strawberry yogurt with fruit bits but to my surprise, it didn’t overpower the bananas and honey. In fact, it complemented it. Also added some chopped walnuts to the batter since I love walnuts. The taste is perfect!This will be my go-to recipe from now on.
So fluffy and flavorful. Will make again! I used pecans and less sugar/honey instead.
These muffins are delicious–and I love the nutty crunch on the top that the honey adds–brilliant. I have a question though–the muffin cups are very full (as the recipe advised) but my batter spread out on the muffin tin so that the whole muffin tin was covered and my muffins all had flat tops, much more so than your photo. What did I do wrong? I want to make these again for a brunch for guests but I’d like to get it right, lol. Also, your website is my go-to for when I have guests and want to try something new without the risk–or when all our adults kids and their families are home–our grown sons love trying your recipes with me in the kitchen. Every one has been a hit! Thanks for helping us make GREAT family memories!
Hi Mary, Happy to try to troubleshoot. While these definitely spread some across the top of the muffin tin, it shouldn’t cover it completely. Did you make any changes at all to the recipe? Did you use Greek yogurt and not traditional yogurt? Also, what brand of flour did you use? Sometimes when baked goods turn out flat, one reason may be the brand of flour used. I always use King Arthur flour with good results.