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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Can I use instant oats?
Hi Kate, You want old fashioned for this recipe.
Thanks for the great recipe. It’s very versatile as I only had 2 bananas I substituted one for some apple sauce. The mixture make 15 which was a bonus!
You’re welcome! And hooray for bonus muffins. :)
I added all the calories of each ingredient, and saw that the calories for each muffin is arpund 450. How come it says 200 on this recipe?
No hate, just wondering!
Hi Jen! Unfortunately, I’m not a nutritionist and can only use the tools that I have available. More on my nutrition information.
I love these easy to make muffins and so do my friends and family. I add a tsp baking powder to make them fluffier and top them with oatmeal flakes, coarse sugar, cinnamon and walnut pieces.
Yes, another hit! And mine look just like yours, #proudamateur…haha
Very easy, very delicious. I added lemon zest of one organic lemon. Instead of milk, I substituted 50/50 home made kefir/whey.
Moist inside. Thank you for your easy healthy recipes that make baking fun for me.
I’m happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing.
Made these with olive oil, maple syrup, and whole wheat flour options. Delicious and super moist! Thank you!
This note is mainly for myself, but if anyone wanted to try a SUPER-healthy version of these –
I swapped unsweetened apple sauce for oil, used 4 bananas because that’s what I had on hand, omitted the maple syrup and just eyeballed a couple tablespoons of honey, and went with about a 1:1 ratio of regular flour and oat flour (I put old fashioned oats into my food processor and made an oat flour of sorts).
They came out only subtly sweet and very dense, but really really moist, probably due to so much dang fruit in them! – so much so that I put them back in the oven for another 5 mins, which didn’t burn them but helped finish them a little. I think letting them cool will also solve the issue. They are probably entirely different than Kate made them, but I liked them! Thanks for the fantastic, versatile recipe :)
Lovely taste, although with baking soda I didn’t know if I should use self raising flour or plain flour (I’m in the UK, opted for plain and think I made a mistake)
I usually make banana bread with my over-ripe bananas, but after having gained more than I’d care to in lock-down, I was looking for a healthier recipe!
This recipe was delicious! I did use only 1/3 cup of maple syrup instead of 1/2 a cup and that was sweet enough for me. I love all the options, makes the recipe simple! I liked it so much I used it twice in a week…best way to use up the over-ripe bananas! :-)
Thank you four sharing, Annalise! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Delicious. Even my banana hating husband enjoyed them!
I made your pumpkin muffins yesterday and will be making these today! They are wonderful and my toddler loves them! I make them into mini muffins and sprinkle a flax, chia and hemp seed blend on the top for some texture instead of sugar. Thank you for a great recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m happy you loved them, Lindsay.
Really like the result. The muffins were tasty, I however did not add milk. I also did not have wholewheat flour, so I added half a cup of bran. Thanks for the recipe.
These are delicious – we added a few handfuls of blueberries which we had lurking in the fridge to the batter as well. Yummy!
Wow love it!!! My parents don’t necessarily like “healthy” food so I didn’t tell them what these were made of but they loved it. I added dark chocolate chips and *chefs kiss
I absolutely love these muffins. Moist and flavourful and quite healthy to boot. Thanks for sharing it.
These are amazing! I was looking for a muffin recipe without baking powder (since I don’t have any) and these were delicious! I also suck at baking and they turned out well!
These came out perfect, thanks for the recipe!
Amazing! I never comment when i make a recipe but this is my first and deserves the acknowledgment it deserves. I followed everything except i used white unbleached flour because that all i had and i put 1/3 or 1/4 of maple syrup since that stuff is pricey and i dont mind a little less sweetness.Came out excellent- left them in a couple minutes past the recommended max since my ovens not the best. What an amazing breakfast treat, thank you!
This is the best recipe for banana muffins in my opinion! I’ve been making these for over a year now, and I think it is a perfect breakfast with a cup of coffee. Thank you so much for the recipe!!!
Excellent! Kid approved.
I’ve made this recipe too many times to count now as it’s become our must have breakfast during this WFH time! I’ve started sifting the flour as I incorporate it with the coconut oil and honey mixture, which I think works well, but not sure it’s necessary. I’m exploring with add-ins; last week it was grated apple and carrot (which my husband swears was my best batch yet). I’ve gotten bolder so I’m currently trying orange zest and bourbon which is in the oven right now; fingers crossed it turns out well! Thank you so much, Kate!!
These are amazing!! I love that they’re healthy – but there’s one major issue…we always have to eat at least 2 each and could easily eat more! I can’t make enough!
These are so yummy! They are perfectly sweetened and moist. Your recipe is spot on. I will have to make another batch tomorrow as these went very quickly in my home.Thanks so much for sharing!
Made these today w honey and 1/2 c of fresh strawberries! Added 1 T of extra flour to soak up the strawberry juices and they came out PERFECT. Best strawberry banana muffins I’ve had. Thanks Kate!
Wow- Just baked our first batch! I opted to use 1/3 cup salted butter, 1% milk, and 1/2 cup honey. I also grind my own white wheat berries and keep the flour in the freezer- makes a powdery, fluffy whole wheat flour. We added in the oats, as well as fresh blueberries and ghirardelli milk choc chips. A surprisingly soft, tasty perfect muffin! Very excellent. Thank you so much :)
Thankyou so much This is my go to muffin recipe and I have made these awesome g/f muffins so many times! At least 30 and I always double the recipe. I change it up sometimes with coconut, berries, choc chips or whatever else sounds good. I freeze the lot in a big container and take them out individually as needed and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Just fantastic, thank you
I love that this is a regular for you and you have tried different variations, Jade!
This is our go to recipe for the muffin during this lock down. My kids are hard to please and this recipe is our favorite.
I’m glad this is a favorite, Smitha!
Great recipes. Just a suggestion to also add the weight for the ingredients as many of us use digital scales. thanks!
Perfect!!!! I even added a bit of flax seed (1/8 c) and some amaranth flour (about a 1/4 c of the total flour). Have you done this as a loaf? If so, how long do you bake?
Hi D! I have a banana bread recipe you should try. :)
Thanks! And the muffins froze perfectly.too!
hi, can i make these using all purpose flour , i dont have whole wheat flour
My kids love banana muffins and I was looking for a healthier alternative. I omitted the oats because of an allergy but followed the recipe otherwise. These were a hit!
Very yummy muffins! Some how I got 18 muffins out of this and that was filling the cups full! I had one extra banana I used and added chocolate chips and pecans! Maybe that’s why? Either way delish and kid approved.
Hi Joy! Adding additional ingredients increased your output. I’m happy they still turned out well. I appreciate your review.
Very easy s, very tasty… Also proud of myself , first time baking from scratch
I just made the cupcake, and I used chapati flour, and it came out really soft and moist! Thank you for the recipe. My kids loved it.
Hi Kate
I am not a baker generally or a cook for that matter but I love having a muffin with my coffee in the mornings. It’s a many year ritual so finally I decided to try baking and these were my first attempt. They came out really well and I tried them again adding chia seeds, pecans and dates. Yummy! The first time I used maple syrup and the second time honey. And the second time I put half banana and half apple sauce because I didn’t have enough banana. It all worked! I was delighted. Now I am wondering if there is a way to add fine wheat bran without screwing up the entire recipe and if so how? Could I substitute some bran for part of the flour? I really love these so I would like to make it work. Thanks so much!
Hi MaryAnne! I’m excited you are loving them so much and have tried lots of mix-ins. For your question on wheat bran, I’m hesitant to say go for it without trying it. You would likely need to decrease the flour to see if it worked. Not sure by how much, sorry!
Honestly this recipe muffin is so delicious. I prefer it over my butter/white flour/refined sugar recipe. The only change I made was adding two teaspoons of baking powder to my flour before adding it to the wet ingredients as I was worried they wouldn’t rise. They were perfect. I will make these whenever I have bananas that would otherwise get thrown away. Highly recommend
Just love these, added bonus not adding sugar (unless I skipped a step). This will be my all time go to banana muffins. Thank you!
These are GREAT muffins. I added a large dash of hemps seeds and chia for my bone health oh and walnuts too. Perfect way to start the day with my coffee and smoothie. Thanks. I look forward to more of your recipes.
Suzie
These muffins are really yummy, I added chocolate chips and chopped walnuts, good recipe, especially with the maple syrup!
These muffins were excellent. I made them with a mix of melted butter and olive oil (what I had on hand) and mixed in fresh blueberries to the batter before baking. I used the oatmeal and maple syrup. Everyone enjoyed them!
That’s great to hear, Laura! Thanks for your review.
I made these with my 3 and 4 year old grandchildren. Yes, there were a few egg shells I could not retrieve…however, what fun and they came out so moist and delicious! Their family eats very wholesome so they appreciate a recipe like this. We followed it exactly as written with the addition of 3/4 cups chocolate chips – yes, I know, more sugar but everyone loved them! All of your recipes are amazing!
Hello!
A couple of questions! How do I substitute oat flour here? Is it also 2 1/2 cups (love your banana bread recipe!)? And how do I turn these into mini muffins timewise? Thank you very much!
Hi Libby! Yes, substitute per my oat flour states so you would want roughly 2.5 cups of oat flour. I think this would still work mini muffins, I suggest cutting the time by half. Reminder, oat flour is a little more delicate so let them cool completely. Let me know how it turns out for you!
They came out so moist! I absolutely liked the measurements of each ingredients. I got 11muffins maybe because the eggs were not large enough. I also used my lakanto maple flavored monk fruit syrup as I am trying to keep it low sugar. Anyway, for me it was very first time making muffins and I enjoyed it with your recipe. Thank you! :)
OMG!!! Those muffins are incredibly delicious! Thank you so much!
These are delicious! I added chocolate chips. Better than any banana bread I’ve ever had. I did not add the sugar or oats on top.
Hiya, I’m wanting to make these muffins but I don’t know if i should use self raising flour or plain flour?
I’ve got self raising whole meal flour or doves farm organic rye whole meal flour.. what do you suggest?
Thank you,
Meg.
Hi Meg, I don’t typically suggest self raising flour as the leavener an vary and baking is pretty precise. I haven’t tried rye here, but you could try it. Let me know! Sorry I don’t have more direction for you. Wholemeal flour grain is likely too grainy.
Can I use reg all purpose flour?
Hi Shauny! You can typically use all purpose flour as a replacement. I prefer the flours listed in the recipe. Let me know how it works for you!
Love them!! I added blueberries as add ins and it was just yum! My fiancé was so happy eating them!
Can i replace the oil with penut butter?
Hi Sonia, I know that works for some in other recipes. I haven’t tried it here. Let me know if you do! Sorry I can’t be of more help. I wouldn’t want you to have a bad result without my testing it!
Easy to make and DELICIOUS! Will definitely be making these for all occasions. Thank you!
FYI – Using a larger muffin tin increases the baking time a little bit.