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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Made this recipe as written – except for using one extra banana as that’s what I had and wanted to use it up! Really tasty and super versatile. I left half the muffins plain and added chocolate chips to the other half. Would definitely make these again using blueberries or some other type of add in for variety.
I just finished making the muffins. I was surprised at the low oven temp. I’ve always understood the best method for baking muffins is at a higher temperature at first, then lowered. I love all the ingredients in the recipe, although I would have liked to have seen more oats and less flour In the recipe. I soaked the oats in the milk first. Then added the other wet ingredients and then the dry. A knife inserted came out clean but the muffins seem quite heavy – I feel due the the amount of coconut oil. Dates were my add in. Sweetness was spot on for me. Thanks for sharing the recipe Kate. ( and Cookie, of course!)
Could I add blueberry smoothies muffins? And if so, how much would you recommend? Thanks!
Hi Dana, sorry I’m a bit confused. Do you want to add blueberries? I have a blueberry muffin recipe: https://aspect-lift.pro/healthy-blueberry-muffins/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Very tasty and easy to pull together. Great breakfast snack to grab while running out the door in the morning (if they make it to the next morning–so good!). Used flaxseed “eggs” and it worked great. This is a great recipe to try out using flaxseed if you haven’t already.
Thanks for commenting it worked so well vegan! I appreciate your review, Casey.
Thank you for this recipe. I am not a baker and now I am making these once a week for our family and friends. Our 15m old loves them and so handy to pop into her lunch box!
These muffins are SO delicious! I make them with coconut oil and maple syrup and follow the recipe exactly, although sometimes I put in a bit less syrup and find that with the little sprinkle of raw sugar on top they are plenty sweet. We eat these right out of the oven and once they are cooled they go into individual ziplocks and into the freezer so that we can grab them on the way out the door in the morning, they are defrosted and ready to eat by mid-morning, or 20 seconds in the microwave does the trick!
Thank you for sharing how you make these, Jenn!
This is probably my favorite go to muffin recipe. I vary it to accommodate what pantry items i have on hand. Today i did half dried cranberries half dried blueberries, my grandkins absolutely love them
YOU MUST TRY THIS RECIPE-Success! I used rice malt syrup instead of maple syrup and halved the batch again (1.5) which made 12 large and 24 mini muffins. I used dried blueberries and apricots as my add-in. They turned out GREAT and DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe Kate.
Thank you, Ainslie!
Love this recipe! Could you add hemp hearts to this or would it change things up significantly? Looking too add in some more protein.
Thanks!
I’m not sure what hemp hearts would do here. You can always serve with a nut butter and add hemp hearts as a topping?
Hi. I make these muffins regularly and they are hoovered up. Today I had no coconut oil so I used peanut butter instead. It was really lovely with a nice aftertaste that didn’t overpower. Thanks for the recipe!!
Thank you for sharing! I’m happy it still worked for you.
This is my favorite muffin recipe. I bake these banana muffins twice a month for my kids to eat for breakfast and to pack in their lunches. They love them. I just tried the recipe with the Vegan alternative. I regularly use olive oil and maple syrup with 2% milk and 2 eggs. For the vegan recipe I substituted water and two flax eggs (used 1Tbsp ground flax seed with 2.5Tbsp water for each flax egg). They turned out great! I add 3/4 cup walnuts, so bake for 25 mins. They are fluffy and moist. Very happy with Vegan alternative!
Thank you for sharing, Christine! I’m happy you were able to make these work well vegan for you.
Love this recipe! Approved by 8 year old ASD son, 4 year old, very fussy eater daughter and my “not usually in to muffins or healthier treats” hubby
We added some choc chips and subbed the flour with spelt flour and they turned out beautifully. Our son has begged me to make them again and again!
Can you use regular white flour?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried it, Laura. Sometimes there can be differences with the whole wheat to white based on the size of the grain. Sorry!
Hi, I’ve tried in the past another recipe for banana muffins, and I decided to find a recipe that doesn’t include a crazy amount of sugar, and I found this recipe, I just made them and is almost midnight…. I tasted a mini one ( because I had enough batter for 12 reg. size and a few mini ones) aaand I went back to the kitchen to get a regular size now!!! They’re DELICIOUS!!!! I put mini chocolate chips and pecans… Thanks for such an amazing recipe, I’m pretty sure my three little ones are gonna love them!!! BTW I used regular flour.
Your recipe for healthy banana bread is my go to and I always hear wonderful comments on it! I made the muffin version and used agave instead of maple because I didn’t have any maple and it definitely impacted the taste. It wasn’t as sweet, so I’ll note that for next time! I also doubled the recipe and it made 30 muffins. Not sure if it was my stainless steel pan, but it seemed like the bottoms of the muffins cooked too quickly and became darker… and they were a bit dry compared to how moist the banana bread comes out! I even varied the cooking times to see if they’d be less dry but it didn’t work. Thanks anyway!
Hi Mouna, I’m sorry to hear they browned quickly. It sounds like your pan, or your oven might not be heating evenly. I have found ovens can vary!
I just finished making the muffins. I was surprised at the low oven temp. I’ve always understood the best method for baking muffins is at a higher temperature at first, then lowered. I love all the ingredients in the recipe, although I would have liked to have seen more oats and less flour In the recipe. I soaked the oats in the milk first. Then added the other wet ingredients and then the dry. A knife inserted came out clean but the muffins seem quite heavy – I feel due the the amount of coconut oil. Dates were my add in. Sweetness was spot on for me. Thanks for sharing the recipe Kate. ( and Cookie, of course!)
I found theyre a little dry too. I researched how to make them more moist and you can add a little more banana, as well as cook them for the minimum time and not a minute more! Mine turned out a bit more moist that way.
Hi Kate!
Love this recipe made it as a banana bread in a Bundt pan the last time. This time I made it into muffins. My three bananas were a little bit on the large side so that the mix ended up being a little bit watery. I ended up thinking it a little bit more with more flour. I substituted 3/4 cups of ground oats/oat flour, a quarter cup of Teff flour, And added about 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal. I used a combination of coconut oil and olive oil. They came out amazing! Half the batch got semi sweet morsels just a few sprinkles on top and the other half got chocolate espresso morsels. Super yummy and super healthy! Thank you so much :-)
Its Easy Healthy and delicious thanx
You’re welcome, Sahar!
I made these last night and they were delicious! Not too sweet. Light and fluffy with a good flavor. I froze half of the muffins for later. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Camille!
I needed something to do with 4 small bananas that had passed their lifespan, and I found this recipe. I did a honey, olive oil and almond flour combo (with a handful of chopped pecans) and they are sooo good that I’m hoping no one eats the new bananas on the counter so I can make more. Do you know, by any chance, what the honey/olive oil does to the calorie content as I could easily eat several of these at a time, but am trying to be mindful? Thank you so much for sharing this!
Hi Virginia! You can find the nutritional information below the notes section of the recipe. I’m glad you love them!
I made this recipe gluten free by substituting the whole wheat flour with 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill gf baking flour, 1/2 cup almond flour, and increasing the oats to 1/2 cup. I also added chopped walnuts. My family said they are the best muffins they’ve ever had! I think so too!
These are fantastic and they look beautiful too! I went with the extra virgin olive oil and maple syrup version with quick oats because thats what I had at home. I also used 4 large bananas and I added 1/2 natural peanut butter and made 21 muffins out of the recipe. Perfect little 150cal muffins!!! Thank-you so much for sharing <3.
You’re welcome, Paula!
I love this recipe! It’s very adaptable and dependable. I’ve made it several times and get great results consistently. Thanks, Kate!
Mmm! When I “accidentally” tasted the batter I knew these were going to be good! I’m a pretty stinky baker but these were so easy and so delicious! And my house and kitchen still smell amazing! Thank you ;)
You’re welcome, Kristina! I’m happy you loved them!
This is my go-to muffin recipe. So versatile! Sometimes I add chocolate chips, sometimes blueberries or raspberries. They’re perfect. I once made a batch of the regular and a batch of the vegan (with flax eggs) for a brunch and many people preferred the vegan!
Thank you for sharing, Julie!
The muffins turned out amazing! It’s very yummy and soft. I added chocolate chips and walnuts
Absolutely divine!
I made them with vegetable oil, whole milk, 1 1/2 cups of cake flour plus 1/4 cup of bran and maple syrup… the came out perfect, soft and delicious!
Topped them with almond, granola and oats.
Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe!
Greeting from El Salvador
Hi, I’ve tried in the past another recipe for banana muffins, and I decided to find a recipe that doesn’t include a crazy amount of sugar, and I found this recipe, I just made them and is almost midnight…. I tasted a mini one ( because I had enough batter for 12 reg. size and a few mini ones) aaand I went back to the kitchen to get a regular size now!!! They’re DELICIOUS!!!! I put mini chocolate chips and pecans… Thanks for such an amazing recipe, I’m pretty sure my three little ones are gonna love them!!!
I love these muffins. They are actually better the next day if you refrigerate them. I used coconut oil, so the coconut oil does magical stuff to the muffin when it is put in fridge. These are great to make on a Sunday and eat a few more days during the week for breakfast.
Cool
I like muffins
Hi there, just made these now, am delighted they turned out perfect… I’m a useless Baker but will never be accused of not trying.. I put a few nuts in also.
I really have to make a point tho as we don’t use cup measurements in Europe. This always causes confusion.
When you Google the measuremwnts/quantities vary sooooo much.
I decided to watch the video as I felt the mixture was too runny and check the consistency… Not at all similar.. PANIC just kept adding flour and oats & by accident they came out delicious.
I tend to avoid sites with these measurements… Please can you add metric… Please please
I’m glad they turned out well! I don’t have a metric conversion option yet, sorry!
I used 1cup of tigernut flour and 3/4 cup of cassava flour as my flour substitute. I omitted the oats and sprinkled unsweetened shredded coconut on top. They turned out yummy, best gluten free muffins I’ve made.
Thank you for sharing, Maria!
Woo hoo! I just made these today for my 13-month old charge. They came out PERFECT and he loves them. I used honey and I followed the rest of the recipe to the letter. Thank you for this!! It is not easy to find recipes without cane sugar. His mom was very impressed. We would love to eat them too, but I’m gluten-free and mom is Whole30. Hopefully dad will eat some! P.S. “Greasing” the muffin tin with coconut oil worked like a charm.
I’m happy to hear that! Thank you for your comment and review, Katie.
These muffins were delicious! I did not add the oat flakes on top and I put in chocolate chips. Amazed that they tasted so good and are healthy!
Loved this recipe. Do you happen to know how many calories per muffin?
Hi! The nutritional information is below the notes section, you just need to click to expand. I hope this helps!
I love this recipe! I’m on the third time making them as they are my favorite thing to make with left over bananas. Thank you so much for the substitute. I have been using flax seed and enjoy them this way!
I loved these muffins. I used honey.
A great go-to recipe for breakfast muffins. Consistently good. Highly recommend
Thank you, Sue!
These are amazing! Trying to steer my kids away from processed foods and a lot of recipes don’t taste nice. I used olive oil and left out the sprinkle stuff. They still taste awesome. I would probably add half a banana and some extra cinnamon – which is my liking. But overall will keep this recipe as my go to. Thanks again.
Thanks for sharing! If you add less banana, you might end up with a more dense or even dry muffin.
I meant to say add an extra half a banana so making it 1 cup and a bit. Sorry for the confusion.
I just made these for the first time (in fact it was my first time making muffins at all) and I loved them. I couldn’t taste the coconut oil in the finished product at all – which is good because while I like the taste, my mom doesn’t and I’ll be taking some over to her later. Long winded way of saying thank you for the delicious recipe.
Wow, even my picky son loved these muffins. Super good with adding organic chocolate chips.
That’s great, Lisa! Thanks for sharing.
If I wanted to make mini muffins would I need to adjust the baking time and temperature?
Hi Brandy! Typically, you keep the temperature the same but cut the time in half. You can adjust as needed then. I hope this helps!
I just made these and they are delicious! I followed the directions exactly, they are light and fluffy with just a hint of sweetness! Definitely going to make these again!
Wonderful to hear, Shayna!
Excellent recipe, I make these often and usually add chocolate chips!
I have made a few banana muffin recipes and this one is by far the best! So good!
A nice tasty option!
However I have a few notes about the mixing process.
First of all, its not really a one-bowl recipe. You will need another bowl to mash the bananas. I used three because mixing the baking soda so early can cause a reaction with the bananas, leading to tough muffins.
So for best consistency, just mix the dry ingredients separately and add them as the last step. Being careful to NOT OVERMIX!
Its only one extra bowl and will ensure a beautiful consistency for your muffins!
Can you use all purpose flour?
Yes, you can!
Super yummy and moist. I sprinkled the tops of my muffins with walnuts and brown sugar. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi made the banana muffins and did a loaf also amazing and healthy recipe thanks so much and kids love it
I made these with apple sauce instead of oil (1 to 1 ratio), maple syrup, 1% milk, and added 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. This made 36 mini muffins with a single recipe, and 20 minutes at 325°F was all it took. I eat a couple of these in the morning with some Greek yogurt to get some healthy carbs in for a well-rounded meal, and they are so delicious. I haven’t met a Cookie & Kate recipe I don’t absolutely love – and this is yet another example of how healthier substitutions can still turn out incredible! Thank you so much!
Delicious! So happy to find this recipe. Wanted to use up my very brown bananas and do not like super sweet muffins. I adde walnuts and some dark chocolate!
Hi what can I use instead of eggs or flax eggs ?
Hi Mayanka, if you can’t use either of those, you could use a chia egg or just add a few tablespoons extra mashed banana (it’s a decent substitute for eggs).
Made this with half white flour and half almond flour (to use it up) and you cant tell the difference! I set the timer for 20 min and had to pull them out at about 16 and they were slightly on the browner side. We just calibrated the oven at Christmas so maybe it was the flour combo used? Not a big deal, they still taste yummy! I also omitted the oats (bc my husband is weird and wont eat then in baked goods) and the sugar on top. Thanks for an easy go to that is also healthier!
Awesome to know! Thanks so much, Erin!
Can I substitute Quaker quick 1 minute whole grain rolled oats for the old fashioned oats? Also is there a big texture or taste difference between white whole wheat flour and regular whole wheat flour? Does the white whole wheat give it a more traditional banana muffin taste and texture? I am trying to appease picky eaters who are used to regular muffins made with all purpose flour. Thanks!
Hey Vee! Yes, you can substitute quick-cooking oats or you can omit them completely for less textured muffins (no substitutions necessary). White whole wheat flour has less of a nutty, “wheaty” flavor so it would be your best bet. I don’t think they’ll be able to tell the difference!
Thanks for your quick reply. I used olive oil, honey, milk, whole wheat flour, and added a couple of chocolate chips in each muffin cup. Also I added fewer oats for less texture for picky eaters. My only “problem” was I ended up with too much batter and it overflowed my muffin cups to the top instead of 2/3 full, so they were quite full on top when baked. Next time I’ll fill an additional 4-6 muffin cups. I was skeptical that being whole wheat they would be a rough dry texture, but they were so moist and delicious!
Nom! I took up the advice of the reader below and swapped out the oil for peanut butter. Added some walnuts, and these will be great breakfast muffins for the week. Thanks!