Maple-Sweetened Banana Muffins
These whole wheat, maple-sweetened banana muffins are the best! So fluffy and moist, I bet no one can guess they're healthy muffins. Easy to make, too.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
Meet the banana muffins of my dreams. They’re fluffy, whole grain, naturally sweetened, totally delicious banana muffins. They’re also about as healthy as muffins can be. The recipe calls for basic ingredients and you can mix them all together in one bowl. Too much to be true? Nope.
These muffins are a derivative of my super popular banana bread and pumpkin muffin recipes. If you love these, you certainly don’t miss the blueberry muffins in my cookbook.
Muffins aside, can I tell you what else is exciting? I got a new camera! Can you tell? Bueller? Bueller? Well, that’s ok. I can, and I’m thrilled about it. I bought my old camera during my last year of college and it was the best investment I ever made. Eight years and 88,000 (that’s eighty-eight thousand) photographs later, it was time to upgrade.
My new camera and I are still getting acquainted. I haven’t found the best settings or figured out all the fancy-pants features just yet (anyone want video?). We’ll get there. Photographing these banana muffins was a learning experience. A very tasty learning experience.
The Best Banana Muffins
Here are a few reasons to love this banana muffin recipe (which happens to be more nutritionally redeeming than most):
- These muffins are easy to make with basic ingredients. Only one bowl required!
- They’re made with 100% whole grains, yet they’re fluffy and delicious. No one will know the difference.
- They’re also naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, rather than loaded with refined sugar. The maple syrup (or honey) offers a touch of extra flavor, which I love.
- A touch of cinnamon offers some warming spice flavor. These muffins will make your house smell amazing!
- These muffins freeze well, too. Just defrost individual muffins in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, or until gently warmed through. You don’t want to overdo it.
Please let me know how your muffins turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you, and hope these banana muffins are your new favorite.
Craving more wholesome banana treats? Don’t miss my banana oat pancakes, vegan banana scones, healthy banana bread and banana cake with cream cheese frosting.
Watch How to Make Banana Muffins
Maple-Sweetened Banana Muffins
These whole wheat, maple-sweetened banana muffins are so fluffy and moist, I bet no one can guess they’re healthy muffins. They’re easy to make, too, with basic ingredients and only one mixing bowl! Feel free to add mix-ins of your choice, like chocolate chips or toasted nuts. Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup packed mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
- ¼ cup milk of choice or water (I used almond milk)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats (optional), plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 teaspoon turbinado (raw) sugar or other granulated sugar, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
- In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil and maple syrup together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well. Mix in the mashed bananas and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon.
- Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins**, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of oats (about 1 tablespoon in total), followed by a light sprinkling of sugar (about 1 teaspoon in total). Bake muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. These muffins will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my healthy pumpkin muffins.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (although, I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
**Change it up: You could really go crazy with add-ins here. Fold in up to ¾ cup chocolate chips, chopped dried cranberries or crystallized ginger and/or chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts. With add-ins, your muffins might require the full 25 minutes in the oven. Another idea? You could top your muffins with my maple glaze from my pumpkin scones recipe to make them more decadent.
Serving suggestions: These muffins are great on their own, with a pat of butter, or spread with almond butter. They would also be fantastic with homemade pecan butter or coconut butter.
Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it vegan: Substitute flax eggs for regular eggs, use dairy-free milk like almond milk and use maple syrup instead of honey.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend works well instead of the whole wheat flour.
Make it nut free: Use a nut-free milk.
Make it oat free: Simply omit the oats.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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These are excellent. I have made them three times in the past month. I appreciate how easy they are, too! Thank you :)
I love that! You’re welcome, Mary.
Made these tonight and followed the recipe exactly; lovely texture and gorgeous taste! These are perfect for my early morning meal during Ramadan! Fast, healthy, and with the oats and added walnuts hopefully some staying power.
Delicious!
Happy to hear that, Valerie!
This is a wonderful and very flexible recipe – I’ve mixed in cherries, liquor, quinoa, almond flour, nuts, chocolate…..almost anything that can go in a muffin, and every fat from coconut and avocado oil to oil. They always turn out great. Typically, I kick the heat up a little for the first 5 minutes and rotate my muffin tin once.
Thank you for sharing, Sarah!
I just finished baking these and they are by far the BEST banana muffins I’ve made, so delicious. I was worried the wholewheat flour would affect the taste but it doesn’t at all! I added a handful of chopped walnuts and used honey instead of maple syrup. Now the hard part – not eating them all! Perfect recipe.
Thanks for sharing, Lucy!
Hi!
I really loved this recipe.
I subbed bob’s red mill all purpose gluten free flour and they turned out wonderful. The only other substitution I made was I did half agave syrup and half maple for the sweetener. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome, Georgea!
These muffins are delicious. My husband said they are the best he’s ever eaten. Will be making them regularly.
Great, Kathleen!
Love your recipes, I can always rely on them :) These muffins were great, however, when I ate them, they left a bitter aftertaste. I used 1 teaspoon baking soda only. Do you have any ideas why this could be? Thank you!
I used Bicarbonate of Soda. Is this what the recipe requires? (or baking powder?) Thank you!
Was your baking soda fresh?
Yes!
WOW! Love these…I did sub applesauce for the oil, honey vs maple syrup, water vs milk(only because out of almond milk) and oat flour vs whole wheat. Also added ~1/3 cup of dark chocolate chips and small amount of chopped walnuts. This recipe is bookmarked for sure. Thank you!!
Thank you for sharing, Sara!
Love this recipe! I altered the recipe by using whatever I have at home, oat milk instead of milk, almond flour instead of wheat flour, and coconut shreds instead of raw oats ! They turn out to be wonderful !!! I can’t go back now, this will become my go to recipe for muffins !!!
I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for sharing, Priscilla.
Super good muffin. I used olive oil and honey as that’s what I had on hand. Also threw in maybe 1/2 cup of chocolate chips that were languishing in the freezer. I’m at altitude. Didn’t make any mods to the ingredients but they did need to bake a little longer.
Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
Hi Kate! These are basically the only muffins I make haha… we love them! Today, however, I only have two bananas. I’m wondering if I could make this recipe with mashed sweet potatoes?
Hi Saskia! I haven’t tried it, but the consistency might be close enough that it could work. The flavor mixture would be interesting, though.
I don’t have any oats on hand and want to make these, would be make such a difference to omit them from the recipe?
Wow!!! These muffins are our new family favorite! It’s rare to find a healthy version of a recipe that’s pleasing to all the little food critics in our family. These were so popular, they were requested more than once in a day! Thank you for this fantastic recipe and all the additional notes. I look forward to making this again and and again!
You’re welcome, Chemagne! Thanks for your review.
I was that i’d love this recipe just in reading the ingredients, but after doing all the recipe, I was really sad because he interior was lime smooshy and wet… I think you better do this recipe at 350 and less liquid with the ingredients…
Hi MM, I’m sorry this didn’t work for you. I’m confused at this isn’t an issue I’ve come across with this. How long did you leave them in for and how many muffins did you gt out of it?
Made these yesterday and used ground oats for my flour and just added few chocolate chips with little shredded coconut sprinkled on top. They were deelish! Thanks so much, Kate, for your great recipes! I love the ingredients you use and the thought and detail you put into your recipes!
Thank you, Katrina! I’m really happy to hear you love this recipe and trust them :)
This has become my go-to muffin recipe ever since trying the banana bread version several months ago. It’s a family favourite! I substitute eggs for flax eggs and it works great, this recipe is very versatile! My add-ins this time include a little scoop of chocolate chips and some hemp seeds! So yummy!
Thanks for stopping to comment, Carly!
Hi Kate,
I can’t get the nutrition info/
what is the Fat, Carbs, Fibre, and Protein. and the calories per muffin?
keep up the great work.
Hi Rhonda! The nutrition information is below the notes of the recipe. You need to click to expand. Be sure to allow cookies in your browser as well, as this is a plug-in on my blog.
My 10-month old son LOVES these! They were his first muffins (we are trying more finger foods) and he seriously can’t get them in his little mouth fast enough. Thanks for sharing your recipe. These muffins are now a staple in our house!
You’re welcome, Taryn! Thanks for your review. This is a great recipe to have as a staple
Made banana loaf last week n love it… made the banana muffins this week …. love them. New favourite recipe thank you
You’re welcome, Helene!
These look delicious. Possible to use almond flour?
Unfortunately, almond flour isn’t a 1:1 substitute and I haven’t had much luck. I know these work well with a gluten free flour blend.
These muffins turned out great! I used coconut oil and made them GF by using almond and coconut flour. I used muffin paper liners and they came out fine. I will for sure make them again.
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Beck.
Just tried this recipe today and the muffins were so delicious!
Thank you, Rachel!
Can you please tell me the caloric, fat and carb total in 1 muffin. Thank you and these muffins are beyond delicious. Donna Healy
Hi Donna, the nutrition information is below the recipe notes. You need to click to expand and ensure you allow cookies in your browser.
I love your website and have recommended to others as well. I made the banana muffins today. They turned out pretty well. I had to give them extra time in the oven thought as the toothpick was not clean after 25 minutes.
I would like to know, if the baking tempreture is for a normal oven or a fan assisted oven.
Thank you for all the lovely recipes! Easy and delicious!
You’re welcome! I’m happy you are loving the recipe, Jean.
I will definitely make these again. I added shredded carrot to them and they were good. The oats were kinda hard though which I thought was weird. I might leave those out next time.
Thanks for your feedback, Rachel!
Love these. Don’t have sweet tooth so cut down the honey to about 1/3 cup, used extra coarse whole meal flour & added chopped walnuts. Perfect as healthy as it gets treat for the kids lunchboxes.
Thank you for sharing, Maire!
I made some substitutions based on what I had. Avocado oil, brown sugar, powdered milk. I added some chopped raisins and more baking soda and cinnamon.
Great muffins!! Best muffins I’ve made with whole wheat flour.
Great to hear, Willow!
I made these today with 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (I typically cut back on any sweetener when I plan on adding chocolate chips…which is more often than not, haha). I added half a banana to account for the moisture of the missing maple syrup. They are a hit! I couldn’t find the nutritional info (user issue?), but I always calculate any recipe myself as a double check, my little fella is a type 1 diabetic. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Kristin, I’m glad you liked them! There seems to be an issue with the nutritional information showing. I’m actively working to resolve. Sorry for any inconvenience!
This food is on my top 5 now!
Great to hear, Maya!
WOW – just made these for a special 4th of July breakfast – followed the recipe exactly using coconut oil and honey. SOOOO delicious! Then I made a second batch gluten free using Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free (added xanthum gum per Bob’s recommendation on the bag) and THOSE were delish too! My first attempt at gluten free baking since I am now living in that crowd. Super pleased – this will be my go-to recipe from now on! Thanks for a great recipe with so many options suggested! :)
Thank you for sharing, Carol!
I made this banana muffins recipe for the fourth time today. I added chocolate chips. Love them.
Thank you, Yaneth!
Nice texture, but the taste of baking soda is too strong. The amount of baking soda to batter ratio is off, you should either use both baking powder or baking soda or just baking powder.
I’m sorry you didn’t love this one. This one only needs baking soda. Did you use fresh baking soda?
My new favorite banana muffin recipe! The entire house smelled amazing after baking these, and I have a feeling they won’t last long. Everyone keeps grabbing one as they walk by. Seriously, so yummy! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Sara!
It has a really fluffy texture,super easy to make,super delicious
yum!!we loved them,my 2 oldest daughters(Anahera10 and Peata8)made them for the family(mum,dad and 4 daughters)
and 2 guests(family friends)our new favourite banana muffin recipe thank you very much!!
Thank you, Melvin!
Absolutely delicious an delicious addictive! Super moist best I’ve had and healthy! My batter yielded 12.5 muffins. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe.
You’re welcome, Brittany!
I just got mine out of the oven and ate one hot – extremely YUMMY. I added some yogurt instead of water/ milk and put a few pieces of chopped dates on the top of eat one. Thank you
You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing, Katie.
I make these nearly every week. Love this recipe – so easy, tasty and never fails! Thank you x
You’re welcome, Cathryn!
This is my go-to banana muffin recipe! I make them vegan (with flax eggs and maple syrup), oil-free (sub apple sauce), and nut-free (with soy milk or soy yogurt). They still turn out GREAT! Thank you Kate. When it comes to muffins and loaves, I always check your website for whatever I’m looking for. You are a trusted resource.
I’m glad you love this one, Danielle!
Made these today and all the family loves them especially my 2 year old son, thank you :)
And by the way i added 40g pecan nuts to the recipe and they turned out amazing :)
You’re welcome, Fallon!
This recipe is fantastic. I added raisins and walnuts and used 1 cup white whole wheat pastry and 3/4 cup red whole bread flour and maple syrup. Not very sweet and the texture was perfect. I baked them in my toaster oven for 30 minutes. My husband wants me to make them for his breakfast for work everyday.
I love to hear you both love it so much! Thank you for your review, Lydia
This is the best banana muffin recipe I have ever used. I subbed canola oil for the coconut oil and added 1/2 tsp of nutmeg to the batter. Thanks for another great recipe!
Great to hear, Rebecca! Nutmeg would be a nice touch.
Excellent recipe! I used almond flour and added 7 more minutes of baking and they tasted amazing! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing!
I made them today only and the are a amazing thanks a lot . And can you please mention the calories per muffins
Hi! I’m happy you loved them. The nutritional information is below the recipe notes. You need to click to expand and also ensure you allow cookies in your browser. I hope this helps!
Mini muffins? How long would you bake? Thanks!
Hi Jaclyn, typically mini muffins are about half the time and check to make sure they don’t get overdone. Let me know!
Love the recipe – the batter tastes so good I probably ate a whole muffin from the bowl (don’t care about raw egg dangers). I used a double size muffin cup so the recipe made six breakfast sized muffins. I used honey and I didn’t sprinkle the top with sugar, so they could be sweeter – next time I will add chocolate chips. I’ve never baked with maple syrup and would be afraid of too strong a taste. (though I was thinking half honey, half syrup might also work).
Thank you for sharing, Caroline! I appreciate your review.
This recipe is great! I did tweak it a little because I didn’t have whole wheat flour in my pantry so instead I used 1c ap flour and 3/4 c almond flour. Additionally I wanted to use a little more than just cinnamon so instead of the 1/2 tsp cinnamon I used 1/2 tsp Penzeys Pie Spice then added 3/4 c chopped pecans. I ended up with 22 muffins… not sure how that happened because I followed the recipe measurements and did not double anything. Either way they are delicious and so moist! I love using a natural sweetener and hiding oatmeal in the muffins!
Thank you for sharing how you made this your own!
Last muffin recipe I tried did not work at all. Then I decided to give these a go and I can say I don’t need to look any further. I have never been much of a baker but these turned out “perfect”. Really tasty and so simple that even I managed to make these. Thanks a lot for the recipe!!
I’m happy you loved them! Thank you for your feedback, John!
A little context for my comment: I love banana-oat muffins. They are my favourite muffin by far.
So, with that context in mind, let me say: these are the best banana-oat muffins I have had in my life! The level of sweetness was perfectly subtle, allowing the flavour of the bananas to shine through. And, the heartiness of the oats gave a very satisfactory, filling feel to the muffins.
The only change we made to the recipe was that we substituted half-and-half flour for the white whole-wheat flour (for no other reason than availability at our local grocery store). So, if anyone else also needs to make that substitution, know that the end result is perfectly wonderful :)
—Ryan (Vancouver, Canada)
Thank you! I’m glad they meet your expectations, Ryan.
First time making these, Absolutely fantastic and kid approved. I have a very picky eater in the house and he couldn’t stop eating these. I had to use Unbleached white flour, unfortunately my wheat flour went bad. I added wheat bran and chocolate chips for my picky eater and walnut for mine. I also used the recipe for the maple glaze topping with oats. These are very moist, and fluffy. The recipe is easy and the ingredients are always on hand in my pantry. The kids had so much fun helping me make these. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I’m happy to hear it! Thank you for your review.
These muffins are SO moist and delicious! I used coconut oil, maple syrup and added semi sweet chocolate chips. They did take the full 25 minutes to bake. Thanks for such a tasty recipe!
You’re welcome, Emily!