Banana Nut Muffin
intro
Tender, warmly spiced muffins packed with sweet ripe banana and crunchy toasted walnuts, perfect for quick breakfasts, snacks, or homemade gifting.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep Oven and Muffin Tin
Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F) with a rack positioned in the center. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners, or lightly grease each cup with non-stick spray or a thin coat of melted butter to prevent sticking as muffins bake.
Whisk Dry Ingredients
In a medium glass mixing bowl, combine 240g spooned-and-leveled all-purpose flour, 5g baking soda, 2g baking powder, 2g ground cinnamon, and 2g fine sea salt. Whisk for 30 seconds until evenly blended, then stir in 75g (3/4 cup) of the chopped toasted walnuts, reserving the remaining 25g (1/4 cup) for muffin tops.
Mix Wet Base
In a large ceramic mixing bowl, mash the peeled ripe bananas with a fork until mostly smooth (a few 1cm-sized lumps are acceptable for texture). Add 100g granulated sugar, 55g packed light brown sugar, 75g cooled melted butter, 2 lightly beaten room-temperature eggs, and 5ml vanilla extract. Stir with a wooden spoon for 1 full minute until no streaks of egg remain.
Fold Batter Gently
Pour the entire dry ingredient mixture into the bowl of wet ingredients. Use a flexible rubber spatula to fold the components together in 10-12 slow, gentle strokes, stopping as soon as no dry flour streaks remain. Do not overmix—lumpy batter is critical for tender muffins, as overmixing develops tough gluten.
Portion and Top Muffins
Scoop the thick batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin, filling each paper liner exactly 2/3 full (about 60ml / 1/4 cup of batter per cup). Sprinkle the reserved 25g of chopped toasted walnuts evenly over the top of each batter mound for a crunchy, visible garnish.
Bake and Cool Muffins
Place the filled tin on the middle rack of the preheated 190°C (375°F) oven and bake for 20-22 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a wooden toothpick into the center of a middle muffin: it should come out with 2-3 moist crumbs attached, not coated in wet batter. Let muffins rest in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Tips
2.For extra nutty depth, toast walnuts for 5-7 minutes at 175°C (350°F) before chopping, and let them cool fully to avoid melting the butter in the batter.
3.Never overmix the muffin batter: lumps are good, as over-stirring develops gluten in the flour that leads to tough, dense muffins instead of light, tender ones.
OMG these are SO good! I had three super spotty bananas sitting on my counter I was about to toss and decided to give these a shot. My kids devoured two each before they even fully cooled, total game changer for busy school morning meal prep. I used walnuts like the recipe said and they added the perfect crunch!
Super easy to throw together, even for someone who burns toast half the time (aka me). Cook time was spot on, came out perfectly moist without being gummy in the middle. I swapped walnuts for pecans because that’s what I had in the pantry and it worked great!
Made these vegan by swapping the egg for a flax egg and using unsweetened oat milk, and they still came out incredibly moist! Brought them to my book club meetup and everyone was raving, even the people who swear they hate vegan baked goods. 10/10 will make on repeat.
Took these to my family’s Sunday dinner last weekend and my grandma asked for the recipe three separate times. That’s the highest possible compliment if you know my grandma, she never likes anyone’s baking more than her own. Only tiny hack: I added a light sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top right before baking and it was chef’s kiss.
First time ever making muffins from scratch and these turned out amazing! I was so nervous I’d overmix the batter and make them tough, but the instructions were super clear and easy to follow. My only tiny issue is mine stuck a little to the paper liners, did I do something wrong?
Added these to my weekly meal prep rotation and they are a total lifesaver. 10 minutes of prep on Sunday and I have breakfast sorted for the whole work week. They stay moist all week if you keep them in an airtight container, no dry crumbly muffins here!
I’ve tried so many banana muffin recipes that come out dry and bland, and this one is officially my new go-to. The ratio of banana to walnut is perfect, not too heavy on the nuts so the sweet banana flavor really shines. Baked these for my office potluck and people were hovering by the platter to grab the last one.
I cut the sugar a little by 2 tbsp since my bananas were extra ripe and super sweet, and it was perfect for my toddler. He kept pointing at the counter asking for ‘nana muffins’ all afternoon. So easy to make with a toddler hanging on my leg too, the prep really only did take 10 minutes like the recipe said!
Made these with a 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour blend and they came out exactly like the regular version! So moist, great nutty crunch, no weird gritty texture that a lot of GF baked goods have. I was worried I’d have to tweak a bunch of things but they worked perfectly with the straight swap.
Made these this morning to have with my vanilla latte and wow, way better than the overpriced bakery muffins I usually pick up on my way to work. The walnut to banana ratio is perfect, and they’re so moist even without a ton of added oil. Will absolutely be making these again and again.