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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Another recipe winner! Every recipe I’ve made of yours turns out delicious, and these are no different. Yum!
Thank you, Heather! That’s really the best compliment. :)
Where can I find the nutritional information for this delicious recipe and others on your blog? I don’t see it with the recipe. Am I missing something?
Hi Momice, I’m sorry, I don’t provide nutritional information because it’s nearly impossible to provide accurate nutrition details for home-cooked goods. Please feel free to run my recipes through a nutrition calculator like myfitnesspal.com.
Thanks for another great recipe. They have been my go-to muffins for the last few months and the whole family adores them. They go so quickly that I’m constantly stalking the reduced produce section for overripe bananas!
These muffins are great with dark chocolate chips (obviously). Coconut flakes on top are delicious too if I’m feeling fancy. ☺
Thank you, Janelle! So glad you all are enjoying the muffins. You just reminded me that I still have a few in the freezer… :)
Hi Kate :)
Quick question – I can’t get whole wheat flour here in Angola, what do you suggest for using All Purpose Flour instead? I have seen people say that for every 1 cup of All Purpose, use 3/4 cup whole wheat. Do you suggest using that ratio in this recipe?
Thanks!
Hi Holly! I wish I could tell you 100% for sure, but I never bake with all-purpose. I just searched around and it sounds like you’re onto something with your 1 cup all purpose for every 3/4 cup whole wheat. Please let me know if you give them a try!
Hi again Kate!
I made the muffins today with all purpose flour, butter(can’t get coconut oil here either!) and possibly far too many chic chips (is there such a thing?!). I used about 2 and 1/3 cup all purpose flour, it seemed right but I might play around with the quantity next time to see the differences.
These muffins are delicious! I made medium size and minis for a good snack size. I thought the recipe I normally use for banana chic chip muffins was ‘the’ recipe but it may have just been replaced!
Hi Holly! So glad the muffins turned out great for you. Thank you for reporting back!!!
I added Brewers yeast for a great breastfeeding addition! Only prob is my partner eats them all!
That’s a great idea! Thanks, Amanda!
I just made these to take along as our portable breakfast on a recent trip. They were fantastic! So easy to make, lightly sweet, and delicious. I upped the healthy factor by adding some grated carrot and finely chopped spinach and they turned out great. Thanks so much!
Thank you, Donna! I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins on your trip! Never would have thought to add spinach, great idea.
These are sooo good! I’ll definitely be making these again. I’m just wondering- do you know how much fat or calories are in these? Thanks : )
Hi Lisa, so glad you enjoyed the muffins! I’m sorry, I don’t provide nutrition details since they’re nearly impossible to calculate for home cooking (like, what if you make 11 muffins instead of 12?). Please feel free to run the recipe through a nutrition calculator like myfitnesspal.com.
Okay thanks! It doesn’t really matter anyway, because NOTHING will stop me from eating those delicious muffins!!!!!!!!!
I actually calculated based on my variation of the recipe. I used 2 bananas and added 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter, and chose olive oil, whole cow’s milk, and maple syrup. The totals I got were 2562 calories and 58 grams of protein. Divide that by however many muffins you made :)
Thank you for sharing, Theresa! I appreciate it.
I am pretty much obsessed with these muffins. I honestly didn’t think I’d like them, I’m a mom of a toddler and recovering fat kid so I’ve been trying to clean up my act. No sugar, no white flour, these sounded so not good to me. But oh no, I was so wrong. I love these muffins so much. I make them and freeze them and eat them for breakfast almost daily. I have some baking in the oven right now!
Hey Tiffany! Thank you! I’m always trying to make seriously delicious treats that happen to be healthy (not healthy treats that are pretty good for healthy treats), so I’m happy to hear you’re loving these muffins! I heat these up for breakfast all the time, too!
This is my first visit to your blog and when I saw these I decided to head straight to the kitchen and get crackin’! They turned out beautifully and I’m sure this will be a go-to recipe for me.
I did make a few changes, as follows:
-canola oil instead of olive/coconut
-local raw honey
-cold eggs
-fat free milk
-regular flour
-no oats/cinnamon sprinkled on top, just sugar… and plenty of it! ;)
I used a nonstick pan and poured the batter straight in. It made 12 muffins, each cup almost all the way full with batter. I got a nice muffin top on each once baked, and they released very easily from the pan. A 23 min. bake time was perfect for golden-brown muffins that were fully cooked but still plenty moist. I can’t wait to try the recipe with chocolate chips, and I’ll definitely have to do a batch with walnuts.
I already sent my mom a link to your blog. A recipe like this is one to be shared!
Thanks, Cynthia! Welcome to my blog. :) So glad you enjoyed these muffins! Thank you for sharing the recipe with your mom, too!
I used only 2 bananas and added 2 spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter, and they came out delicious! I also made them in a mini muffin pan and baked them for 13 minutes. This recipe made 72 mini muffins!! Thanks for the healthy recipe!!
these look really good! do you think i could substitute some of the flour for quick cooking oats??
Thanks, Jessika! You can just skip the oats entirely. It won’t be a problem.
Unfortunately I only have regular flour but have all the other ingredients to make these muffins. When using regular flour, do all the measurements stay the same?
Hi Claire, I’m sorry for my delay. Yes, I think that should work fine!
I just made these, and they turned out awesome! I used white whole wheat flour instead of regular whole wheat flour, because that’s what I had and I made half of them mini muffins. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks, Jill! So glad they turned out well for you!
Made these with white whole wheat, maple syrup and whole cows milk. They came out PERFECTLY and are DELICIOUS!! Thanks for the healthy recipe!
Awesome! Thank you, Sarah!
Would it work to use gluten free flour or ground up oats for oat flour in the same ratio as the whole wheat flour?
Hi Jana, yes, I think an all-purpose gluten-free flour could be substituted here. I’m not sure that oat flour would hold up well.
I just made these and even my toddler who usually wont eat muffins loved them! My husband who does not normally like banana flavor ate two as soon as they were out of the oven.
That’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know, Chelsea!
Hi Kate & Cookie,
I just found your site while looking for a banana muffin recipe. This recipe is great and super adaptable! I didn’t have oats, so I subbed the flour and oats for a total of 2 cups whole wheat flour. Instead of 1/2 cup maple syrup, I used a combination of 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup molasses (mmm mmm!). My bananas must have been huge because I got 15 muffins out of the recipe. So tasty with PB!
Thanks, this one is going into my recipe box!
Tanz & Byrd (the doggie)
Thank you, Tanz! I love the sound of your molasses muffins. Yum.
Made these muffins last night – AMAZING! The batter, for me, made 15 muffins and they are so moist, delicious and healthy! Definitely my new go-to banana muffin recipe :)
Yay! Thanks, Jessica!
I’m eating a freshly baked muffin as I’m typing this out – and it’s delicious! Moist, banana-ey, and I added a few walnuts for a bit of a crunch. My husband and I are on the journey to a more healthy, balanced life style, and these muffins are a perfect way to “cheat” without really cheating. Thanks for this wonderful recipe :)
Thank you, Elise! So glad you two enjoy them!
Hi,
I just made these with a a gluten free flour mix (self raising, but not whole grain) & they are just cooling – they smell & look delicious! I added chopped hazelnuts & because I only had one giant banana I used that (it came to 3/4 cup mashed).
Thank you!
Glad to hear it, Lyndsay! Thank you!
Made these egg free because i realized i was out half way into the recipe (used flax egg instead.) Also used vanilla almond milk, and coconut oil, and maple syrup. Turned out delicious.
Thank you, Jen! Glad to hear it!
Made these muffins this morning with a few starting to brown bananas and YUM! I doubled the recipe and added some milled flax seed, pecan chips and chocolate chips. Me and my toddlers loved them!
Thanks, Nicole! Glad to hear it!
These were fantastic! My kids devoured them and they were so quick and easy to make.
Thanks!
Awesome! Thank you!
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, I looked for a recipe and came across the Cookie and Kate blog. I found a recipe and scanned all the comments to see if it was likely to turn out well. I used the recipe and as promised, it was delicious. I returned to Cookie and Kate and repeated the process – find the recipe, check the comments, make it, delicious. After doing this time and time again, I realized the moral of the story: make any of Kate’s recipes, don’t bother checking the comments because she’ll never steer you wrong and everything you make will be delicious. I just made these muffins and they’re scrumptious. And we all lived happily and healthfully ever after. The end.
Rose, you just made my day!!! Seriously. Thank you. :D
Dear Cookie and Kate,
Thank you for this delicious recipe!!! I woke up today feeling like making healthy muffins, googled “bananas and oats” and came across your recipe. Happy I did!
I made mine with coconut oil, honey, soy milk, and added some coffee beans covered with dark chocolate. Next time I’ll add some blueberries.
My doggie is also called Cookie and is also a rescue.
Have a wonderful weekend! Blessings!
Hi Miriam and Cookie! Thank you for saying hello! I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins. Yours sound great!
Hey Kate, Looked for all your banana muffin recipes since my banana loaf failed me today.. Came across so many :)
One more question for you – Will blending bananas into a smooth puree in a blender\mixer rather than mashing them with a fork ruin the batter?
I generally use the blended banana into my apf version and it used to come out really good. But today used bananas mashed with a fork and as I mentioned on your banana bread recipe – it came out too dense and not fluffy at all
Hi Etka, that’s a good question. I don’t think that blending the bananas into a puree would cause problems!
Excellent recipe! Super easy, healthy and delicious.
The kind of recipe I will come back to forever.
Thank you, Larissa!
These turned out superb! Moist and just the right amount of sweetness.
Yay! Thanks, Sarah!
WOW! These muffins are great!! Like I can’t stop eating them GREAT!
WOW they are so moist and so tasty.
I used melted butter and honey. I forgot to add the milk (pregnant mind, plus I had 5 other kids ranging from 6 years old to a 10 month old hovering over the kitchen) but they still turned out superb.
And I feel good giving these muffins to my kids. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Psst, if only I can save a couple for my husband to try later. Tough :P
Thank you, Menaka! :)
I am making these for the second weekend in a row. I make mini muffins, added a few dark choc chips sent the leftovers to school for a healthy lunch box treat during the week – no nuts! Wonderful recipe, thank you.
Thanks, Rebecca!
This is my second week in a row making these muffins! Very yummy, last time we ate the whole batch in one day. I add 1/2tsp baking powder and start them in the oven at 425 for 5 min before dropping the oven to 325 for 17 min to get a beautiful muffin top.
Thanks, Rio!
Ooh good tip! My muffins always cave in and look absolutely hideous. Every. Single. Time. Haha!
My 2 1/2 year old and I just made your muffins. Easy recipe and delicious muffins. We wanted to make something yummy to take to our friends, and we are excited that they are great. Thanks for sharing!
That sounds like so much fun. Glad to hear your muffins turned out well!
I’ve been looking for a healthy banana muffin recipe for a while now and I came across this one — I just had to try them! They were amazing and I love that they are healthy too.. I’m in the middle of baking another batch now! Thank you xx
Awesome! Glad you found these. Thank you, Gabrielle!
Absolutely amazing! I just made a batch, this is my new favorite banana muffin recipe!
Yay! Thanks, Leanne!
Thanks for the recipe! The muffins taste really good but i think that they are quite dry. How shall I improve the dry texture?
Hi Ruth! That’s strange, I haven’t had many reports of dry muffins. Perhaps you baked them a little long? Did you use the specified amount of oil?
Delicious!! Soooo tasty!
Thanks, Cassandra!
Absolutely amazing! So tasty and so easy. My 2 1/2 yr old helped me make them. We got 15 muffins out of this batch. I added a half cup of applesauce to make them a bit more moist since I only had 2.5 ripe bananas. Not sure if it was needed but the end result was incredible. Will definitely be making these again.
Thank you, Nicole! Glad they turned out well for you! Sounds like a fun baking project. :)
I made these and they taste amazing- can hardly believe honey is the only sweetener! This recipe is definitely replacing our old one. Thanks!
Hooray! Thanks, Hannah!
These were awesome!!!! Thank you! I did 50/50 honey and maple syrup just for fun. Although, I got 12 pretty full muffin cups out of the recipe.
My 4 year old and my husband declared them “fantastic!” and no one was the wiser about the healthy ingredients.
Awesome! Thanks, Beth!
I bought a TON of bananas on sale the other day and have been planning on making some kind of muffin for a while now! I google banana muffins and came across your amazing site (I can’t wait to browse and bake more)! I tried to make mine without flour and I accidentally had made pecan flour by blending my pecans too long, for a strawberry rhubarb crisp I was making, and I was like “maybe I can use this as a flour in my muffins” so I used about 3/4 cup of that and 3/4 cup of almond meal and they turned out amazing! My muffins always collapse in the middle (if you know how to fix that I would love the feedback) but they are SUPER moist and delicious! I added in sliced bananas on top for looks, coconut sugar because why not and also some ghiradelli dark chocolate chips for good measure! I am probably going to eat them all…I’m not good at sharing.
Thanks, Bailey! I’m so glad the muffins turned out well with your substitutions. Not sure why your muffins always cave in, but gluten-free flours could be to blame, or expired baking powder/soda. Be sure not to overfill your muffin cups, too (only 2/3rds full is best!).
My husband is training for his first marathon and I`ve been a “Weight Watcher” for a year now. I`m always looking for healthy recipes. Today I had ripe bananas to use and love using whole wheat flour, honey and oats. i just made these muffins using honey and added walnuts and mini chocolate chips; they are wonderful! I know my husband will love them. Any chance you have the nutritional info on these?
Hi Debbi! Glad these turned out well for you! I’m sorry, I don’t provide nutrition facts for my recipes. I’d suggest running the recipe through a calculator like myfitnesspal.com so you can add in those walnuts and chocolate chips for accurate information!
Do you know the nutrition facts on this recipe?
I’m sorry, I don’t!
Thank you for this recipie! I used coconut oil, whole wheat pastry flour, 2% milk, honey and tossed in 4T of flax seed meal. I made mini muffins and baked them at 325 for 12-15 min, I ended up with 48 of them.
Here is my nutritional information per my fitness pal (per mini muffin) 62 cal, fat 2.2, cholesterol 7.8, protein 1.2
My better half loves banana bread and doesn’t care what goes in it as long as it tastes good. My “healthy recipes” are usually a flop :( However, this was a huge success! I’m sure they would have been great for breakfast, but they didn’t last that long :) I can’t wait to check out more of your recipes!
Thank you, Katie! Glad to hear it!
Made the maple sweetened banana muffins. They came out great but would also like to make them with gluten free flours like almond, coconut etc! Can u suggest how to do that! I love your site and recipes! Thanks so much.
Hey Carrie! I’m sorry, I haven’t experimented with making these gluten free. I bet an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend would work well, but I’m not sure what else to suggest!
Just substitute an equal amount of a gluten free flour blend, and add one and a half teaspoons of baking powder.
For Gluten Free: I substituted the flour for self raising gluten free flour and skipped the baking soda. I also used almond meal instead of the oats, and added raspberries. Sensational!!!
I have been wanting to make these muffins since you posted the recipe, and only got around to it now. I just had to say that this is now going to be my go-to muffin recipe. Simple goodness. Thank you so much!
Hooray! Thanks, Marie!
This recipe is amazing! My muffins turned out awesome! Thank you!
Hooray, thanks Penny!
I made these last week and they were great! I veganized them by using 1/2 c. applesauce in place of the eggs. I also used spelt flour. They were delicious and my daughter LOVED them. I’m a personal chef and making these for a client tomorrow. I’ll be sharing them on my blog vegoutdetroit.com soon. I’ll be sure and link to your site. :) Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you, Kirsten! Glad you enjoyed them!
I made these for my toddler and we both love them! Thanks for the recipe. I’ll be trying some of your other recipes soon!
Thank you, Megan! Hope you enjoy the others just as much. I have a pumpkin version of these, too, and it’s about that time of year!
Made these muffins (twice already in two weeks) and they were amazing. First time replacing butter with olive oil but I couldn’t even tell a difference. I did notice that the batch I made didn’t last long around the house though(even the pickiest eaters enjoyed them). ;) Thanks for the recipe! Can’t wait to try out more!
Thank you, Ahnna!
These are in the oven now — followed the recipe EXACTLY as I always do the first time I make something (then I try substitutions if needed). I am always searching for healthy recipes for my partner and I — especially for breakfast! Looking forward to trying them (they look great in the oven now!!!). Thank you so much from Philadelphia :-) – I look forward to reviewing your other recipes!
Thanks, David! Hope they turned out wonderfully!