This Best Banana Muffins Recipe is packed with banana flavor and the brown sugar streusel (crumb) topping is divine. If you want to indulge a little more, don't forget to drizzle them with the vanilla icing. Read on to find my tips on how to ripen bananas quickly and also how to store and freeze the best banana muffins!
Best Banana Muffins with Crumb (Streusel) Topping
So I absolutely love bananas in baking. They tend to add the perfect sweet flavor and also moistness. And any baked banana good is usually healthy-ish so it's kind of okay to have them as breakfast. Who doesn't love dessert for breakfast? I know I do! And this Best Banana Muffins Recipe is the perfect way to start your day with. Pair it with this delicious Coffee Banana Smoothie for a complete breakfast.
Not that this best banana muffins recipe would be considered super healthy, but I think since there's fruit in the muffins let's just agree that these banana muffins are kinda healthy.
While this recipe is pretty simple (no creaming butter and sugar since we are using oil) I do have some tips for ensuring that you end up with the best results.
How to Quickly Ripen Bananas
We all know how important it is to use very ripe bananas in all baked banana goods / desserts. However if your family is like me and loves bananas, you usually don't end up with any super ripe bananas. But you have a hankering for this best banana muffins recipe and no ripe bananas? Worry not! I've got a few of tips to quickly ripen the bananas.
- The Microwave Oven Method:
This is the quickest method to quickly ripen bananas. Poke a banana with a fork all over the peel and then place in the microwave for 30 seconds. Check and see if the banana has softened enough. If not continue for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- The Oven Method:
Preheat your oven to 300 F and line the bananas on a baking sheet. Bake for about 40 minutes. Now the bananas will be completely black, but worry not, they'll be perfectly ripe inside and totally ready for this best banana muffins recipe. Even though this method is fairly quick, you have to use yellow bananas. You can't use green bananas because they aren't fully ripe for this method, so keep that in mind.
- The Paper Bag Method:
This is a slower method than the two methods mentioned above but you can place bananas in a paper bag and loosely close it. After 12-24 hours the bananas will be ripe enough to be used in this best banana muffins recipe!
*note these tips have been adapted from: 5 Genius Ways to Quickly Ripen Bananas.
Some Tips & Tricks
- As discussed above, the riper the bananas the better they are for making the best banana muffins. I like to use almost brown bananas for baking because they impart the most flavor. However if you don't have ripe bananas, just use one of the methods above to quickly ripen bananas.
- I like to use oil in this recipe for two reasons: oil makes these bananas super moist, and since the bananas have such a strong flavor using butter instead of oil isn't all that important because we already get maximum flavor from the bananas.
- I like to use brown sugar because the brown sugar has a deeper flavor than white sugar and also it helps add moisture. Nobody likes likes a dry muffin, after all.
- I like to use a hand whisk to mix the batter because this way there's less risk of over mixing. Now, how do you know how much mixing is just the right amount of mixing? Well just stir the batter until you can no longer see white streaks of flour. Stop stirring after that, or else you'll be at risk of over mixing.
Storing & Freezing Instructions
- These banana muffins can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- You can also them. After baking the banana muffins wait until they are at complete room temperature. Then wrap them with cling film, and place in ziplock bags and freeze. To thaw, place them out of the freezer at room temperature or gently microwave for a few seconds.
PIN THIS BEST BANANA MUFFINS RECIPE HERE!
Looking for more banana recipes?
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups & Banana Milkshake
Best Banana Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
For the Banana Muffins
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 bananas mashed (use ripe bananas)
- 1/3 cup oil
For The Crumb (Streusel) Topping
- 2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter (softened)
For the Vanilla Icing
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
For the Banana Muffins
- Preheat oven to 375 F and prepare a 12 count cupcake pan by greasing it or line with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk until combined.
- In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients: egg, brown sugar, vanilla extract, mashed bananas and oil.
- Transfer the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients mix and gently mix until fully incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Using a scoop or a tablespoon transfer the banana muffins batter to the prepared cupcake pan.
For the Crumb (Streusel) Topping
- In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, all purpose flour and cinnamon. Cut in the butter.
- Crumble this streusel topping over the muffin batter.
- Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
For the Vanilla Icing
- Combine the vanilla icing ingredients and mix well. Drizzle over prepared banana muffins.
These look wonderful, but can they be frozen? I live alone, and eating a dozen muffins in 3-4 days would be a BAD idea. LOL
These really are the best! The only thing I added was chopped walnuts for an extra crunch but these were spectacular and will definitely be me go to banana muffin recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Omg I just made these and they were absolutely delicious! Moist and flavorful I didn’t do icing the topping was sweet enough! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Kelly, glad you enjoyed them!! 🙂
I have made this recipe at least 10 times and it comes out perfect every time! I make these and put them in a large zip lock bag for our busy family to be able to grab on the way out the door for breakfast. My teenage daughter and husband love them. I made some for my brother-in-law who LOVES banana bread and he actually ate them for his dinner one night because he “could not wait until breakfast”. Thanks for sharing this quick, inexpensive and delicious recipe.
I love anything banana! The look fantastic!!
Banana bread is one of my favorites.. but never tried the banana muffins. And since I already have the perfectly browned bananas, this will be on my next lis of recipe to tackle.
As soon as I saw these on pinterest I just knew I had to make them!!!
I had bananas in the fruit bowl that really weren't fit for eating, so it was perfect timing.
MAN!!! My kids, hubby and Father in law went crazy for them!!! They said they were unlike any banana muffins they had had before and so good!!
I think it is the Streusel topping and the icing!!!! It makes these so different and so yummy.
Thank you for a family pleasing recipe 😀
I LOVE banana bread, so I would definitely enjoy these muffins! Loving that crumb topping!
I have been making banana muffins instead of bread for easy storing and less wastage. Love the recipe and absolutely love the streusel topping. I love the streusel topping in all my muffins. To add to that this also has the vanilla icing.
These banans muffins look incredible!
I love banana muffins and from your ingredients I agree that this is the best recipe ever, love the streusel topping.
I swear that bananas clone themselves in our freezer. I love having banana muffin recipes so I can use those bananas up!! My favorite topping is a streusel topping. I'm pinning the recipe.
Your banana muffins look absolutely wonderful. The streusel and drizzle are the perfect touch to this recipe.
I'm not a huge banana bread person...but I'm loving that you made these as a muffin, especially with the streusel topping and the vanilla icing! I would eat the top, and let someone else eat the rest 🙂
I have always wanted to have a good banana muffin recipe. Your recipe really looks nice and easy to make at home. Need to make this muffins at home soon.