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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Love making this recipe…. one bowl!!!
No white sugar, good ol’e maple syrup! I really like that it has oats in the recipe. I added 3/4 cup chocolate chips! Will definitely make again.
Delicious, moist, and perfectly healthy :) Made recipe exactly as is with a bit more time in the oven due to altitude. My husband and I loved these. Great with a bit of butter.
I made them with gluten free flour. Delicious! Thank you, great recipe.
Hi Kate!
Enjoying making your recipes while stuck at home. I’ve trying to keep my immunity up with lots of fresh veggies etc. but a girl needs some dessert too! These muffins are great, keep the recipes coming!
These look delicious! Love banana anything & I can’t wait to try your recipe!
Would almond flour work in place of the wheat?
Hi Deb! Unfortunately, I don’t have success with almond flour as a 1:1 substitute typically.
I’ve used 1/4 almond flour to 3/4 regular flour with good results.
These are delicious!! I made them with honey and whole wheat flour and added walnuts. I am still struggling to figure out my oven’s temperature so they came out a teensy bit dry. I’m sure the next time around, I’ll nail the temp and they’ll be moist. A nice breakfast treat during current times.
Mine also turned out a bit dry. Did you figure it out?
I’m sorry to hear that! How long did you leave them in for?
Can I use instant oats instead of old fashioned?
Sure, you can.
Hey there, I did the recipe again, using honey and with the recommended temperature and timing and they came out quite moist this time. Also, this time I made them with bit more than 1 C of bananas and these were frozen bananas and super juicy. Maybe Kate can help me out here – are frozen bananas likelier to keep things moist? And I read that honey retains moisture?
Either way, planning on making these again!
Thanks for reporting back, Gina! So glad to hear it. I think you’re onto something with the frozen bananas, and I do think bananas vary somewhat (extra-ripe bananas offer more moisture than just-ripe, and so on).
These turned out delicious! I skipped the oats, only because I didn’t have them on hand. I’ll definitely make this recipe again! It gave me a dessert taste that I was looking for in this time. Thank you, your recipes are always consistently awesome!
Oh. My. Gosh! I am licking the bowl right now! THANK YOU for some sweetness amid the current situation!
You’re welcome, Katherine!
I didn’t have plain oatmeal so I used an almond honey granola instead. It turned out AMAZING. Thank you for sharing!
These were amazing with perfect consistency and not overly sweet.
I made two batches, the first batch with the recommended coconut oil and maple syrup. I omitted the oats because I didn’t have any and added added pecans. Delish!
The second batch I made with peanut butter in place of coconut oil and honey instead of maple syrup and added chocolate chips. I have to say the original version I liked much better. I think the maple syrup is really the star of the show here.
Thank you!
You are welcome, Caroline! Thanks for sharing.
These are amazing!
I used California ranch extra virgin Olive oil, honey and regular whole wheat flour.
I added some chocolate chips.
I ate 5 of them within an hour! So good. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I loved these. Best banana muffins I’ve ever created thanks to a great recipe Kate. So moist and delicious. I’m in Ireland and we tend to make buns (and use bun tins) rather than muffins so mine are half the size of these. Its great though since that means you’ve half the amount of sugar so just over a teaspoon of sugar per bun and much lighter in texture and tastier than any others I’ve created. A lot of “healthy” banana buns and bread recipes I’ve followed in the past have been very dense in texture and way too overpowering on the banana front. These buns are so balanced in flavour and have a beautiful texture.
This recipe is so delicious!!! Definitely will be making these again and again. Love that you can make them grain free, vegan…etc. very simple but yummy.
I’ve made these 2x in 1 week exactly as the recipe indicates. My hubby and I love them and I don’t feel guilty enjoying! Thank you!
Would avocado oil work?
Sure, that should work. Let me know how they turn out, Jen!
Hi! I followed the recipe using olive oil and the texture of the muffins is wonderful but they don’t have any flavor. I smashed 3 bananas but 1 packed cup was probably closer to 2 bananas. Could that be why? Should I have used the rest of the bananas? Any other thoughts?
Hi Meredith! I’m sorry to hear that. Was there space in the cup at all? I assume since volume was packed, you didn’t. Were your bananas very ripe? That can change the flavor if they aren’t.
The bananas were frozen, I’m wondering if they lost some flavor? I’m going to try it again using fresh bananas and using more of a heaping cup. Thank you for the reply!
That could be the case! Were the very ripe when you put them in the freezer?
Yes, they were very ripe when they went in the freezer. That’s my go to with bananas, when they get too ripe to eat on their own, they head into the freezer for the next loaf of bread or muffins. :)
These are delicious. One bowl and no mixer required. Didn’t have enough banana so used a bit of applesauce in a pinch and used whole wheat flour. Added 1/3 cup of chocolate chips, just enough to entice my granddaughters. Sprinkled vanilla sugar on top. Will make again. Thank you for sharing.
Wow these baked up beautiful and was super easy. Great recipe and my toddler loves them.
Great to hear, Grace!
Would it be possible to add pumpkin to this recipe? I have a can of pumpkin and two big very ripe bananas I want to use up!
Hi Lindsey, sure! Banana and pumpkin puree are actually interchangeable in this recipe. You’ll want to use a total of one cup per batch of muffins… sounds like you have enough for two batches. :)
Hello, I live in Sint Maarten and unfortunately my shopping options are very limited due to the safety measures. I went to the store and couldn’t find any healthy flour option. Unfortunately I only have white flour =( I’m dying to eat banana bread. Should I use the same amount of white flour or should a use a different amount? Thanks
Alma
Hi Alma! I haven’t tried it, but I believe others have with success.
Can I make this as a cake/bread instead?
Hi! You could try one of these: https://asset-boost.pro/favorite-banana-cake-recipe/%3C/a%3E or https://asset-boost.pro/healthy-banana-bread-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I’m about to make I’m not sure but it’s probably my 15 or 16th batch. I l love that they’re healthy but mostly because they tast so good. I add either dried apricots or raisins.
Made the banana muffins and banana loaf. Oh my gosh, they’re the best. Thank you!
I’m a newbie baker and this came out so good! My family loved it! Thank you!
I just baked these muffins and they came out delicious. I have cancer (in remission)… and sugar is one of my worst enemies. Trying to find good recipes — especially when it comes to baking — has been few and far between. I’m not a comment/feedback writer on a regular basis, however, only when I really feel it’s warranted. This recipe definitely warrants positive feedback!
The muffins were so simple to make… one bowl to mix all the ingredients – love it! I opted to use honey instead of maple syrup, coconut oil instead of olive oil, almond milk instead of regular milk, and whole wheat flour over white whole wheat flour. I didn’t stir in any add-ins or include the oats or sugar for the topping.
I baked the muffins at 325 degrees on the convection setting for 20 minutes, and they came out perfect. They’re full of flavor, moist, and sweet enough that even my teenage daughter loves them!
This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Love it! This will be my go-to banana muffin recipe from now on!
Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe, really enjoyed it! Might be worth working the step to preheat the oven in later in the recipe – maybe others are quicker at prep than I am, but my oven would have been at 325 empty for a long time before I was ready if I did it first ;)
So delicious and moist!
Love these muffins! They are a new favourite in our household. They are super tasty and a great healthy snack to have.
I made these yesterday! They are DELIGHTFUL. (I’ve also made your banana bread recipe about a billion times – so good!) Thank you for your excellent recipes – I am going to go shove muffins in my face for the rest of the day now.
Delish! I added shredded coconut, walnuts and pecans. Thanks a ton for sharing!
I made these last night with my bananas that were getting too ripe.
They are delicious!!
My husband and I love them!!
That’s great to hear, Michele! Thanks so much for your review.
These are some of the best tasting muffins! And I’m a “muffinhead!” I added dried apricots cut into small pieces…fabulous! Thank you for this easy to make a delicious recipe!
Wow. This recipe was perfect. What a find!!! I see why they are five stars. Delicious and healthier. I was able to make them Gluten Free by using 3/4 cup of Oat Flour and then 3/4 cups of gluten free baking flour (added a few extra oats to thicken the batter). UNREAL. Of course, had to top a few with some chocolate chips.
THANK YOU!!!
Thanks for sharing your combination of flours, Courtney! I’m testing oat flour out in some of my recipes, so this is helpful to know you have tried a variation.
Made these with honey as run out of maple syrup aargh!! Also used spelt flour. Turned out delicious although I forgot the topping in my hurry to bake. Added a squirt of agave and the sugar bits on the top afterwards. Light and delicious..make them!!!!!!
Awesome recipe thank you!!!
Mine came out really good!
Thanks for the recipe I’m definitely keeping and sharing.
However I only had bread flour and added chocolate chips!! Yumm
Have made these 4 times in the past few weeks. Kids and I love them! Bit of a flour shortage here so had to use all-purpose as I ran out of whole wheat – still great – but prefer the whole wheat. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for a wonderful recipe. I did make a few modifications; I cut back the maple syrup to 1/3 cup, used 4 small bananas, doubled the cinnamon, used sprouted wheat flour, and because I didn’t have oats, I used quinoa flakes. I also omitted the sugar on top. OMG – so good! Exactly what we needed with our coffee this morning as we continue week 5 of #juststayhome. Stay well and thank you!
Tried this today – this recipe is definitely a keeper! Not too sweet but definitely soft and ‘banana-y’. I’d recommend this!
Light, fluffy and healthy!! I made them vegan with flax eggs and added in walnuts. They’ll probably be gone by the end of the night….
I used several substitutions, but these turned out great! Used 4 bananas (around 1 1/2 cups), about 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce to replace the eggs, brown sugar for the honey (I don’t have maple syrup and want these to be baby friendly), coconut oil, and reconstituted dry milk. I omitted the oats and sugar that are sprinkled on top because I’m lazy. And I added chocolate chips. Super yummy, perfectly moist, successful experiment. I think my muffin cups are small, and I didn’t fill them up all the way, but I got 18 muffins from one batch. Thanks!
I love how these turned out! I made two substitutions: butter instead of coconut oil and all purpose flour instead of white whole wheat flour (since I couldn’t find any). I also added a little over 1/2 cup of chopped pecans and the cook time of 25 minutes was perfect! I’m a huge fan of bananas and I’m wondering if it’s possible to add more mashed banana to this recipe to get a stronger flavor..?
Hi Madison! I don’t think adding more banana would get you the same desired result. Instead, make sure your banana are on the more ripe side.
Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. Made the muffins today which came out quite well. Have a couple of question: 1. can we use baking powder instead of cooking soda? 2. Should the muffins be baked with only bottom heating or both bottom as well as top?
Hello, this recipe is very specific to the leavener needed. Changing it would not get your the same result.
I tried and this works with same amount of white self raising flour. Omit baking soda and salt ❤️❤️❤️ delicious!
Just took these out of the oven and had one and it was pretty amazing! Topped with a mix of oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, chia, flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
These muffins are amazing. I used honey because it’s what I had. I regularly “forget” to eat all my bananas so that I can make these. A couple always get eaten straight away and I freeze the rest. I generally get 11 out of the batch.
Just made these exactly to the recipe & they were absolutely delicious. They not only tasted good but looked good too!
Hi Kate. Thanks for the recipe. Just wondering if it will work ok to substitute the whole wheat flour with all purpose flour??
Hi Karine, yes that typically works in my muffin recipes.
I love this recipe! It makes me feel less guilty about eating delicious banana muffins at any time of the day. The coconut oil also helps keep the muffins moist for a good few days.
Just made these! Wow, they are delicious; so moist. Next time, I might try to make them into a loaf.
P.S. We had to leave them in the oven for longer than 25 minutes. Our bananas were likely more wet coming from the freezer (and we didn’t measure them, we just put three).
Will this recipe work with quick oats?
Yes, it will!
Absolutely delicious and so easy. Thank you! I made a double batch and added blueberries to the second one. They were even more moist than with just bananas. I also halved the olive oil and added applesauce to replace the other half. This wasn’t due to fat, but because applesauce brings even more moistness to muffins. I am gluten and dairy free, so used a combo of rice flour, teff flour and cassava flour (with a bit of xantham gum to help it rise). I also used a mixture of flax eggs and chia eggs. I have a few muffins and then put the rest in a bag in the freezer. I warm a couple in the oven each day to have with my coffee. This makes me a very happy camper.