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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Hi Jenn, as usual, your recipe is a hit with the family! I cut the sugar, honey and used normal yoghurt instead of Greek yoghurt ( as didn’t have it) and it tasted just as good!
Husband just told me, “I hope you saved this recipe somewhere.” It’s a winner!
Hi Jenn! These muffins look so good. I want to make them tomorrow so we can enjoy them all through the weekends ) do you think I could substitute a coconut oil instead of butter? If yes, how much would be an equivalent amount?
Sure Asyl, coconut oil should work (and it would be the same amount). Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
What should I do if I don’t have an electric mixer? Should I whisk it by hand or stir it with a spatula or spoon? & Thanks for your awesome recipes!
Hi S H, for the best results, you really need a mixer for this. Sorry!
These look amazing! I currently can’t have dairy (new baby at home), can these be done without butter?
Sure, Angie – I’d use coconut oil.
Hi Jen,
My husband is lactose intolerant, I was wondering if there is anything I can substitute the yogurt or sour cream with.
Thanks
Hi Rani, if you’re able to find non-dairy yogurt, that should work here. Hope you enjoy!
Wonderful recipe, thanks Jen!
The second time I made these muffins, I made more of the walnut topping mixture and incorporated some of it in the batter as well as placing over the top. it turned out very nicely. Thanks again
Hi Jenn,
I would like to make these muffins for a holiday brunch. Can I make these muffins as mini muffins?
How would this effect cooking time? Also, how much batter would I use for each muffin?
Thanks
Carole
Sure Carole, you can make these as mini muffins. You’ll fill the muffin cups almost entirely. They should take somewhere from 10 to 13 minutes in the oven. *I’d start checking them at 10.) Enjoy!
Could I use maple sugared walnuts for the topping and just eliminate the honey?
Hi Judy, I think that would work but because the honey acts kind of like glue to hold the topping ingredients together, when you top the muffins, I press the topping down a little bit to adhere them to the batter. Hope you enjoy!
Hmmm, not sure why these didn’t turn out well. This is the 2nd time I’ve tried a bread or muffin recipe that uses honey that I haven’t liked. It was an easy recipe, and the muffins were moist enough, but they didn’t rise into a dome shape either, nor were they that tasty. Ordinarily I love your recipes, Jenn.
Hi Barbara, Sorry to hear these didn’t turn out well for you. Regarding them not rising as you would’ve expected. Is there any chance you measured something incorrectly? If not, was the oven fully pre-heated? Was your baking soda or baking powder old?
These muffins are delicious! I had some overripe bananas and I wanted to try something new, so I gave these a try. I took them to my office and everybody loved them. I especially love the honey and walnut topping. I just made a few minor changes to make them a bit healthier:
– Whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose
– 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and about 50 grams of butter
– 1/2 cup sugar instead of 2/3 cup
– Added one teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter (this is just for the flavour – I might also add some nutmeg and/or ground cloves next time)
Whether you want to make some switches or not, this recipe is fantastic and I’ll definitely be making it again. Thanks, Jenn!
Like many of these reviews, I also had a lot of bananas and was trying to figure out how to use them, when I saw this muffin recipe, so on a rainy afternoon I made them and they were divine, so light and fluffy and tasty, it was hard to stop at one. They are definitely going to be made again, thanks for always having wonderful recipes.
Glad you enjoyed!