These gorgeously swirled Banana Cream Cheese Muffins are a decadent addition to brunch! Topped with sweet cream cheese that melts into the tops of the moist banana muffins as they bake, you won’t be able to resist. Bonus: they only take 30 minutes!
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Why You Will Love This Banana Cream Cheese Muffin Recipe
If you love banana muffins, this cream cheese swirl version takes them to a whole new level. Here’s why you will love them:
- Easy to Make: No complicated steps or tools required, this easy swirled banana muffin recipe is perfect for beginners!
- Perfect for Overripe Bananas: If you happen to be tired of banana bread, this is a great way to use up those bananas sitting on your counter.
- Kid-Friendly: Easy to grab-and-go for busy mornings, these muffins will be a hit with children and adults alike.
- Impressive: The cream cheese swirl makes them look as good as they taste, I dare you to try to just hav one!
If you love swirled muffins, make sure to also check out my Nutella banana swirl muffins or swirled pumpkin cream cheese muffins!
What You Will Need
You will need a few simple, standard baking ingredients. If you bake often, you likely already have everything you need on hand! Scroll down to the recipe card for exact amounts.
- Flour: All purpose flour.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder
- Salt
- Bananas: You want to use over-ripe bananas have have a lot of brown speckles on them and are beginning to become mushy.
- Sugar: You will need granulated sugar and (light or dark) brown sugar.
- Egg: One egg and an extra egg yolk for the cream cheese swirl.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil, or any other mild baking oil.
- Pecans: Chopped, or use walnuts.
- Cream Cheese: Full fat cream cheese will create the best muffin.
- Vanilla Extract
Swirl Technique
It’s a lot easier than you think! No need for anything fancy, just a toothpick and a spoon. I drop a tablespoon of the sweet cream cheese mixture into the center of an unbaked muffin with a spoon.
Then, using a toothpick, I swirl the cream cheese towards the edges as best I can. You don’t need to be perfect, you just want to swirl it a little as best you can.
If the cream cheese mixture isn’t swirling for you, you can add 1 tablespoon of milk to smooth it out a little. If you need additional help, watch the video in this recipe card below for a great visual example!
Chef’s Tips
- Banana Ripeness: The riper the banana, the sweeter and more moist your muffins will be. Do not use fresh bright yellow bananas.
- Chocolate: If you want to add some chocolate, I recommend going with chocolate chips mixed into the muffin batter. About 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips works great!
- Don’t Overmix: Mix until the batter is just combined to keep the muffins tender.
- Cooling: Let muffins cool slightly in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to prevent them from becoming soggy.
How To Store
These muffins are great for up to a few days after baking them. Here are your storage options:
- Fridge: Allow muffins to cool completely then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: For that freshly baked feel and taste, you can microwave a muffin for 10 seconds to warm it up again.
- Freeze: Individually wrap cooled muffins in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Transfer muffins to fridge to thaw overnight, for best results.
Cream Cheese Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 medium over-ripe bananas, mashed
- ½ cup Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
- ½ cup packed Dixie Crystals Light Brown Sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Swirl
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons milk, if needed
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In large bowl, whisk together bananas, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in egg, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in flour mixture until no lumps remain. Fold in pecans. Fill prepared muffin tins 3/4 full with batter.
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture and use a toothpick to swirl into batter. This will not look smooth, but it will bake up much prettier. If your cream cheese mixture is too thick, you can beat in the 1 tablespoon of milk to thin it out if needed.
- Bake muffins for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Serve fresh. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. They are best at room temperature or even slightly chilled.
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These are delicious! I swapped pecans for walnuts and it was super good!
I’ll try it
Looks delicious! I’m wondering if I can just use regular granulated sugar.
Yes!
Can you put them in the fridge?
Yes, I store them in the fridge! Some people love them cold, but you can also let them sit at room temperature for an hour before serving if you prefer them room temperature.
I’ve made the Pumpkin Cream cheese muffins twice in the last week, they are SO yummy! I am going to make the Banana Cream Cheese tomorrow. Thank you for the recipe!
Hello! This looks so yummy! Do you happen to know how many calories and carbs are in each muffin? Thanks so much!
Hi Shey! I’m sorry, for this one I do not since it’s hosted on Dixie Crystals site. I apologize, all my regular recipes will have nutrition automatically calculated by a recipe nutrition program I pay for, but this one is sadly not. I am no longer allowing my recipes on other sites, so going forward you should never find a new recipe without the nutrition. I apologize for the inconvenience!
Do these freeze well ?
Just made them omg the best recipe ever ♥️
The cream cheese tends not to freeze as perfect as we would hope, so I recommend trying to enjoy them fresh those first few days!
Could you do this in a cake pan?
Yes, you could bake it in a 9×13 baking pan like a sheet cake style!
Best tasting muffins. Had some well ripened banana’s to use up, glad I decided to use this recipe. Will happily make again.
Hi!
I’m super excited to try this recipe!!
Wanted to know if these can be made in a loaf pan instead of muffins? If so,what temp and how long should I bake?
Hi Juls! Sure you can! I don’t have an exact bake time, but it will take quite a bit longer. I’d start checking in for it to be done around the 50 minute mark. However, you may need to cover the top half way through baking with foil — otherwise the cream cheese top may over cook and brown too much.
Glad you enjoyed them Melissa! Thanks for taking the time to share a review!
Where’s the recipe?
click on the link where it says “Recipe “, at the bottom. HTH!
what a fun, creative recipe, thank you, have not seen anything like it