Are you ready for the quickest muffin recipe ever? These Brown Sugar Banana Bread Muffins are moist and delicious, and ready to eat in 25 minutes! Add chocolate chips for easy chocolate banana muffins.
Super Easy Brown Sugar Banana Muffin Recipe
Once again, muffins have flown under my radar for quite some time. Until the other day, when I found myself with an overstock of ripe bananas. My daughter is a banana fiend, as is my husband. But even they seemed concerned by some of the more brown ones of the bunch.
What was a girl to do? Having baked my fair share of Banana Bread recently and craving something quick, the inspiration hit me: MUFFINS!
These brown sugar banana muffins are SO quick and easy. Just 25 minutes and they’re ready to eat! Whip up a batch during naptime, as a light breakfast, or after school snack. These muffins never last long in our house!
Are Banana Muffins Healthy?
These homemade banana muffins are the best easy treat. Not only does homemade mean less unknowns in terms of ingredients and additives, but bananas bring all kinds of great benefits to the party! Bananas are:
- Nutrient rich
- Heart healthy
- High in potassium
- Full of antioxidants
By association, these banana muffins are a healthier breakfast option that’s just as tasty as ever!
What You’ll Need
I just love the rich, caramelized flavors that come out with the brown sugar in this recipe. All of the ingredients for these banana muffins are pantry staples, making this one of my favorite easy breakfast ideas!
- All-Purpose Flour: For the most consistent results!
- Bananas: You’ll need three large ripe bananas for this recipe.
- Brown Sugar: I use dark brown sugar for a more intense caramelized flavor, but you can use regular or even light brown sugar if you’d like.
- Vegetable Oil: Or another neutral oil, to bring another level of moisture to these muffins.
- Cinnamon: The combination of cinnamon and brown sugar gives these banana muffins so much comforting flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: As always, pure vanilla extract is best, but imitation will also work.
- Leavening: Baking powder as well as baking soda.
- Eggs
- Milk
- Salt
How to Make Fluffy Brown Sugar Banana Muffins
Set your timers to 25 minutes and have your whisks at the ready! Here’s how to make these unbelievably moist brown sugar banana muffins:
Combine the Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, leavening ingredients, cinnamon and salt.
Combine the Wet Ingredients: Combine the mashed bananas, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Mix the Batter: Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, alternating with the oil and milk. Stir until all the ingredients are just combined.
Bake: Pour the batter into a lined muffin tin, about ¾ of the way full. Bake the muffins in a preheated oven until they pass the “toothpick test” (a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean). Let the muffins cool off a little, then serve them warm and smeared with butter!
Tips & Tricks
- Avoid Over-mixing: Over-mixing the muffin batter will impact the final texture of the muffins (and not for the better). Make sure to mix the wet and dry ingredients only until just combined!
- Can I Use Whole Wheat?: While whole wheat is healthier, I wouldn’t recommend it for this muffin recipe. Whole wheat alone tends to dry out the muffins. If you’re determined to use it, I’d still suggest going half-and-half with regular all-purpose flour.
- How to Ripen Bananas: If you’re craving these sweet brown sugar muffins but are waiting for your bananas to ripen, you can speed up the process. Closing the bananas inside a brown paper bag for a couple of days will help them ripen quicker.
Add-In Ideas
Brown sugar banana muffins are crazy addictive on their own! Or you can try out all sorts of fun add-ins. They’re amazing with a handful of chocolate chips thrown in, for banana chocolate chip muffins. Here are some more mix-in ideas:
- Blueberries, for blueberry muffins
- Walnuts or pecans, for banana nut muffins
- Pumpkin spice
- Dried fruit
- Mini peanut butter cups
- Lemon zest
- Coconut
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Store these banana muffins airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Do These Freeze Well?
These muffins are great to make in batches to freeze! Let the muffins cool completely, then store them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container and keep them frozen for up to 3 months.
Thaw your banana muffins at room temperature before serving, or pop them in the microwave to warm them through.
More Easy Breakfast Muffins to Try
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
- Banana Cream Cheese Muffins
- Blueberry Lime Muffins
- Gingerbread Muffins
- Vanilla Cranberry Sugar Muffins
Banana Brown Sugar Muffins
These incredibly moist Brown Sugar Banana Muffins are ready to eat in just 25 minutes! Add chocolate chips for Chocolate Banana Muffins.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffins tins with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine bananas, dark brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Add dry ingredients, alternating with vegetable oil and then milk, stirring until just combined.
- Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake for 14-15 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Let muffins cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Serve warm with butter or store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
These are amazing with a handful of chocolate chips thrown in if you like the chocolate & banana combo!
Store muffins airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Store frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 145Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 68mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 10gProtein: 2g
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I like sweet things
Can I sub vegetable oil with olive or avocado oil?
Hi Kara! Sure!
These are my go to banana muffins! I have made them for two years now! I make the recipe to a T, but! I add a small scoop of Nutella in the middle. Bake as normal.. EVERYONE LOVES THESE!!! thanks so much!! My family of 6 think you are amazing!!
So glad to hear you all love them!
Just tried recipe it is delish added about a cup of frozen blueberries and a half cup chopped walnuts just for something different, had to up the time 15min. but worth the wait definitely making again!
My kids and I have been addicted to your coconut banana muffins for some time now. I decided to try these and they did not disappoint! These are truly delicious and quick to whip up. Bad news is I’m out of bananas now.☹️ Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!
Hi! If I substitute regular flour for Cup 4 Cup (gluten free flour) is that the only substitute I’d need? Cup 4 Cup already has Xantham gum in it. Thanks!
Hi AC, I’m sorry but I don’t personally have experience with baking this recipe with gluten free flour. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out!
I made it with Gluten Free Cup 4 Cup as the flour substitute and I did half the amount of sugar and my husband asked me which restaurant I bought the “non-gluten free” banana bread from. It was an absolute hit in the household — absolutely delish.
So glad it worked out with the gluten free flour and you all enjoyed them!!
I had some over-ripe bananas, and a couple of frozen bananas so I searched the internet to find a banana muffin recipe and came across this one.
I love that it uses brown sugar instead of white sugar. They were really easy to make, though my toaster oven needed 19 minutes per batch rather than 15. (I don’t have an actual oven… )
I will definitely be making these again! Thanks for the recipe!
I love these muffins. I made them recently. Love the flavor of the brown sugar. Have you ever substituted applesauce instead of oil? What would you suggest? Thanks.
Hi Stefanie! I haven’t tried applesauce, but think it would work ok. They wouldn’t be as moist, but should still be tasty. Glad you enjoy these muffins as much as we do! :-)
I made these muffins tonight with my granddaughter. They are very good. Recipe is very simple. The recipe made 12 large muffins and 10 mini-muffins. My granddaughter wanted icing, so I made a simple confectioners sugar glaze. Next time, I will make a brown sugar/flour/oat topping to put on the muffins before I bake them.
So glad you and your granddaughter liked them! How fun to get to bake together! :-)
These are perfection. Made them yesterday for quick breakfast this week and the kids have been gobbling them up. I even added a spoonful of flax seed for extra goodness and they didn’t notice!
Banana muffins are always a hit at my house – and yes, they’re an amazingly good way to use up all those browning bananas sitting on my counter because I mis-calculated how many we would eat. I love the idea of using brown sugar instead of white – will have to try it.
Perfect use for ripe bananas! I wish I had one right now!
Love these! Brown sugar is one of my favorite ingredients. Add that to bananas and a bit of cinnamon, and I’m all over these!