These banana walnut muffins are fluffy and moist, filled with banana chunks and chopped walnuts. They're the perfect way to use up browned and overripe bananas! The natural sweetness of ripe bananas makes them so delicious and full of banana flavor!
These muffins are great year-round, or whenever you have some ripe bananas, and would be great for special occasions such as Mother's Day!
Looking for more delicious muffin recipes? Check out my mini pecan pie muffins!
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Brown sugar: You can use light, golden or dark brown sugar for this recipe. I used golden brown sugar.
- Eggs
- Canola oil: using oil is one of the secrets to getting moist muffins. Canola or vegetable oil are great options for their neutral flavors. Coconut oil (that's liquid) could also work but note that it may add a slight coconut flavor.
- Vanilla extract
- Bananas: You'll need about 3 ripe bananas to make up the 1 ½ cup mashed banana for this recipe. Depending on their size you may need ½ a banana more or less.
- Walnuts: Buy the chopped walnuts at the store or chop them yourself to about ¼ inch pieces.
Please see the full list of ingredients and measurements at the bottom of the post.
Walnuts and bananas are a classic pairing, but you could also try chopped pecans or peanuts with these muffins.
Using a measuring cup and fork
The easiest way to measure and mash bananas is to mash the bananas inside a measuring cup. I like to break the first banana into 3-4 pieces, and slightly mash it with a fork inside a two-cup measuring cup. Repeat with the second and third bananas, fully mashing them after adding all three. Leave some chunks of banana or mash them into a puree-like consistency - it's up to you!
Using a Potato Masher
I like to mash them inside the measuring cup so that I can see if I need to add any more or less bananas without dirtying another dish. However, it may be easier to mash them using a potato masher, which probably won't fit in the measuring cup and need to be done in a bowl
Instructions
This recipe follows a fairly standard formula for making muffins: mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another, gently mix them together, and bake!
To get a bakery-style dome top, start the oven at a higher temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and drop to 350 degrees after five minutes. The initial high temperature is what does the trick!
Mix the dry ingredients together
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to a medium or small bowl and whisk together. Whisk for at least ten seconds to ensure all the leavening agents are evenly dispersed so that the muffins have an even rise.
Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl
Add the brown sugar, eggs, canola oil, vanilla extract, and mashed bananas to another bowl and stir everything together. If you left some chunks of banana when mashing them, the mixture will be a little lumpy.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet
Mix the dry and wet mixtures together until they're just combined. One of the secrets to fluffy muffins is to not overmix the batter! That's why I recommend doing all the mixing by hand. Mixing by hand is much gentler than mixing with an electric mixer.
Finally, fold in your chopped walnuts, reserving some to sprinkle on top of the muffins.
Fill the muffin pan and bake
Divide the batter amongst a 12-cup muffin pan, filling each cup to the top. Sprinkle the saved walnuts on top.
The oven should be preheated to 425 F when the muffins first go in. After five minutes, lower the temperature to 350 F. Keep the oven door closed when you change the temperature. You don't want to let any of the heat out.
Bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into one of the muffins. Let them cool on a wire rack immediately or enjoy warm!
Tip: Use a mechanical ice cream scoop to portion out the muffin batter. It's easy to scoop and dump the batter with and will give you consistently sized scoops!
Variations
- Mini Muffins - You can make these as mini muffins using the same recipe (I'd suggest dividing the recipe in half, otherwise you'll end up with about two dozen mini muffins). The instructions stay the same, except for the bake time. After the temperature decrease to 350 F, the muffins will only need another 5- 8 minutes in the oven.
- Add chocolate chips - chocolate chips, nuts, and bananas are a classic trio!
- Try another nut - You can swap out some or all of the walnuts for another nut, just make sure to chop them!
Equipment
- Measuring Tools
- Mixing bowls
- Standard 12-cup muffin tin - the kind of pan you use can have an effect on the coloring and bake of your muffins. If you notice that your muffins consistently bake over or under the amount of time suggested in recipes, it may be because of the pan you're using!
- Muffin liners - I prefer to use paper liners for baking muffins, but you can also spray the pan with nonstick spray if you don't have any on hand.
Storage
These muffins are best enjoyed the day they're made (and while still warm from the oven!), but will last 2-3 days covered at room temperature.
You can also freeze any leftovers! Just make sure they've fully cooled before putting them in freezer bags or container. To reheat, take them out of the freezer and let them come to temperature on the counter. You can also microwave one for 15-30 seconds to eat immediately! They'll last for about 3 months in the freezer.
Banana Walnut Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups mashed banana
- 1 ½ cups chopped walnuts divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with liners or coat with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate, large mixing bowl combine the sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and banana, mixing until the ingredients are well combined. The batter will be lumpy from the banana. Then, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Use a rubber spatula to fold in 1 cup of chopped walnuts.
- Divide the batter equally among the prepared muffin cups, they should be full to the top. Sprinkle the reserved walnut pieces on top.
- Bake the muffins at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes. Then, lower the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (leave the muffins in the oven!) and bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes. They're ready to come out when you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
- Take the muffins out of the pan and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- The easiest way to measure and mash bananas is to mash the bananas inside a measuring cup. I like to break the first banana into 3-4 pieces, and slightly mash it with a fork inside a two-cup measuring cup. Repeat with the second and third bananas, fully mashing them after adding all three. Leave some chunks of banana or mash them into a puree-like consistency - it's up to you!
- One of the secrets to fluffy muffins is to not overmix the batter!
- Use a mechanical ice cream scoop to portion out the muffin batter. It's easy to scoop and dump the batter with and will give you consistently sized scoops!
Nutrition
Please note, Holiday Sweets N Treats isn't a professional nutritionist. Any and all nutritional information shared is an estimate. If you're following a specific diet or counting calories, we suggest you use the nutrition calculator of your choice. Calories can vary depending on the brands and products used.
Jess
These look so yummy! And I agree, muffins are always best when they are warm out of the oven. Thanks for sharing, Emma. I can't wait to try these!